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17378

Six people in Florida die as a result of (not expanding Medicaid) every day.

February 12, 2014

"Crist said that Florida’s decision not to expand Medicaid means that ""six people in Florida die as a result of that every day."" The statistic is based on a recent study, but experts note a few caveats. First, Crist used the study’s high-end figure; using the low-end figure cuts the number of deaths to three a day. Second, experts caution about uncertainties about the studies upon which the new study was based. And third, while many experts agree that it’s plausible to assume that the lack of Medicaid coverage could lead to deaths, they were careful to add that it is difficult to pinpoint a number as precise as the one Crist offered."

Amy Sherman

"Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, now running for his old position as a Democrat, has attacked Republican Gov. Rick Scott for his tepid support for Medicaid expansion last year. Scott had said he would support it, but he didn’t lobby for it, and ultimately the state Legislature rejected the expansion. In a Feb. 7 interview on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown, Crist said that means ""about 1 million of my fellow Floridians are not getting health care today, and I’m told by my friends at (the Service Employees International Union) that means that six people in Florida die as a result of that every day."" Is Crist’s diagnosis correct? Do six Floridians die a day because the Legislature rejected Medicaid expansion? The Health Affairs study Crist’s claim comes from a study released in late January on the blog of the health-policy journal Health Affairs. It was authored by researchers from Harvard University and the City University of New York. The researchers looked at states that had opted out of Medicaid expansion, including Florida, where about 1.27 million people would have been eligible. Researchers then used prior studies about the effects of expanding insurance to estimate a low-end number and a high-end number of deaths for each state that didn’t expand Medicaid. In Florida, the study concluded, the number of deaths would range from 1,158 to 2,221. The only state with more projected deaths was Texas. Crist arrived at his six-deaths-a-day figure for Florida by using the high end of the range cited in the study -- 2,221 deaths divided by 365 days a year works out to six deaths a day. If he had used the low-end figure, it would have worked out to three deaths per day. So what were the underlying studies? They were: • The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, a comparison of about 6,000 patients who got a slot in a 2008 Medicaid expansion and about 6,000 who didn’t. The study tracked factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, depression, and out-of-pocket medical spending. (PolitiFact has previously written about the mixed results of the health outcomes found in the Oregon study.) • A study by Harvard researchers Benjamin D. Sommers and Katherine Baicker compared three states that expanded Medicaid -- New York, Maine and Arizona -- with neighboring states that didn’t expand it. This is what the Harvard/CUNY researchers used to calculate their high estimate of deaths and was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012. The sample consisted of adults who were observed five years before and after the expansions, from 1997 through 2007. • A study by Harvard researchers about health insurance and deaths. This produced the low-deaths estimate. The study was published in 2009 in the American Journal of Public Health; it followed indivduals over 16 years. (Two of the authors of this study are also authors of the new Harvard/CUNY study.) The Harvard/CUNY study arrived at the death figures by looking at the number of individuals with depression, the number of patients on diabetic medications, the number of women who had a mammogram or pap smear in the past year and the number of people who had catastrophic medical expenses in the past year. We interviewed two of the authors of the study, including Harvard professor Danny McCormick. The lack of Medicaid expansion will mean that patients nationwide won’t get certain diagnostic tests or take certain medications. ""Cumulatively, that amounts to vast numbers of deaths,"" McCormick said. We asked McCormick how researchers can know that the differences in the death rates between the Medicaid expansion states and the states that didn’t expand were as a result of Medicaid. ""We don’t know absolutely because we didn’t do a randomized control trial with long-term followup on millions of people,"" McCormick said. ""For $10 billion we could do that study."" Experts weigh in on study We asked a variety of health policy experts their opinion about Crist’s claim. Many experts told PolitiFact that denying Medicaid to poor Floridians will harm their health. But placing a precise figure as to how many will die per day, they added, is difficult. ""There is strong consensus in the public health community that this is a very harmful policy,"" said Harold Pollack, who told PolitiFact he is a ""liberal health policy wonk"" at the University of Chicago. However ""the most difficult aspect of that policy to investigate is its effect on mortality."" Pollack said Crist is on solid ground to point out that the lack of Medicaid expansion causes serious harm. However, ""I personally believe that these mortality estimates were on the high side of an inherently difficult calculation."" Pollack pointed to a 2009 study by Richard Kronick, then a University of California San Diego medical professor who later went to work for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration. His study concluded that the risk of mortality is no different for uninsured respondents than those covered by employer-sponsored group insurance. Uninsured individuals can still get some health care, but they use fewer services than the insured, which increases their risk, said Jonathan Oberlander, who studies health care politics and policy at the University of North Carolina. ""There are different estimates in the literature of how much uninsurance increases mortality (and at least one significant study that doesn’t confirm that claim),"" Oberlander told PolitiFact. ""But in general I’d say that former Gov. Crist is on solid ground in saying that Florida's decision to not expand Medicaid could lead to more deaths from uninsured Floridians, which could have been reduced if the state expands Medicaid. However, getting an exact number is difficult. There are estimates, and the Health Affairs study is just one estimate."" Some of the criticisms we heard focused on shortcomings of the underlying studies. George Washington University professor Leighton Ku said that the Sommers/Baicker study looking at the mortality in a few states was ""relatively rigorous"" but warned that it came with caveats. The authors wrote acknowledged that it may not be possible to generalize its findings to other states. Also the study states that it ""cannot definitively show causality."" ""It makes sense to believe that giving low-income people Medicaid health insurance coverage will lead to improved health access and improved health and could eventually reduce mortality,"" Ku told PolitiFact in an email. ""But it is important to recognize that it might take a number of years before such an effect is realized."" Ku said that the new Medicaid death study ""is somewhat speculative, but plausible. It did not go through the more rigorous peer review that would normally be required to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. I think there is pretty good evidence that Medicaid saves lives, but how many and how long it takes is a little harder to say."" Other scholars are more critical of the study. Duke University professor Chris Conover, an adjunct scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the study of three states only found a statistically significant decrease in mortality in New York and that the New York benefits are more generous than most states. The study, he said, doesn’t prove that the reasons for the differences between mortality in New York (which expanded Medicaid) and Pennsylvania (which didn’t) result from differing approaches to expanding Medicaid. ""If people are willing to overlook the study’s clear methodological limitations to claim it ‘proves’ Medicaid saved lives in New York, then they have to be prepared to concede that Maine and Arizona’s Medicaid programs evidently had no impact on mortality,"" Conover wrote in his blog. Baicker, author of one of the underlying studies, said that the new study is ""a blog post (rather than a refereed article), so I really can't speak to the quality of methods they use."" ""The point of most studies like this is to take estimates of the effect of a particular program and forecast what would happen to a population overall based on those estimates,"" Baicker said. ""All such estimates come with uncertainty, and don't point to the specific individuals or, for example, specific times of death."" Our ruling Crist said that Florida’s decision not to expand Medicaid means that ""six people in Florida die as a result of that every day."" The statistic is based on a recent study, but experts note a few caveats. First, Crist used the study’s high-end figure; using the low-end figure cuts the number of deaths to three a day. Second, experts caution about uncertainties about the studies upon which the new study was based. And third, while many experts agree that it’s plausible to assume that the lack of Medicaid coverage could lead to deaths, they were careful to add that it is difficult to pinpoint a number as precise as the one Crist offered."

http://www.msnbc.com/the-daily-rundown/watch/fmr-gov-charlie-crist-141188675797, http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/01/30/opting-out-of-medicaid-expansion-the-health-and-financial-impacts/, https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/02/03/will-17104-americans-really-die-in-states-that-dont-expand-medicaid/, http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1202099, http://chpir.org/people/chris-conover/, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/may/03/new-study-medicaid-game-changer/, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/sep/06/alan-grayson-claims-45000-people-die-year-because-/, https://www.politifact.com/virginia/article/2011/jul/12/do-people-without-health-insurance-die-sooner/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775760/

1mixture

Health Care, Medicaid, Poverty, Florida, Charlie Crist,

27823

"A veterinary pathologist testified that being immersed in a can of Mountain Dew would turn a mouse into a ""jelly-like"" substance."

July 22, 2014

d. Because of the condition of the mouse, its internal organs, and cartilaginous and bony structures, namely that none of them had been disintegrated or been decalcified, this mouse was not in the Mountain Dew fluid for more than 7 days and could not have been and was not introduced into the can of Mountain Dew when the can was produced (filled and sealed) on August 28, 2008, seventy-four days before it was allegedly found in the can. From a medical, pathological and scientific view, that simply would not have been possible.

David Mikkelson

As folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand wrote back in 1988, rumors of mice found in soda bottles and cans have a long history in urban folklore. And as explained in one of our own articles, the supposed remarkable dissolving power of modern sodas is another familiar aspect of urban folklore. Both of those elements came into play in January 2012, when public attention was directed to a February 2011 article from the Madison/St. Clair Record which referenced a lawsuit filed against PepsiCo by a man named Ronald Ball, alleging that after he purchased a can of Mountain Dew soda from a vending machine at work, he found a dead mouse inside of it. Readers of that article focused on a pair of sentences near the end of the story: Pepsi had at one point sought summary judgment in the case. It cited the testimony of a scientist who testified that if the mouse had truly been in the soda since its bottling, its body would have dissolved into a “jelly-like substance.” Ronald Ball did indeed have a pending lawsuit against PepsiCo, as the Record reported back in May 2009: A man who found a dead mouse in a can of Mountain Dew after taking a swig from it is suing Pepsico, a store and its manager. Ronald Ball claims he bought a can of Mountain Dew from a vending machine located at his work place, Marathon Oil, in Wood River on Nov. 10 [2008], according to the complaint filed April 29 in Madison County District Court. “After purchasing said can of Mountain Dew, Plaintiff opened the can and immediately became violently ill such that he began to vomit,” the suit states. Immediately, Ball poured the Mountain Dew into a Styrofoam cup. Along with the liquid, a dead mouse plopped out of the can, Ball claims. Before Ball purchased the can, it was sealed and had not been punctured or tampered with, the suit states. In response to Ball’s claims, PepsiCo filed with the court an 8 April 2010 affidavit from Lawrence McGill, a licensed veterinarian with a speciality in veterinary pathology. In his affidavit, Dr. McGill stated that after a mouse had been submerged in a fluid such as Mountain Dew for 30 days or more, the mouse would “have been transformed into a ‘jelly-like’ substance”: If a mouse is submerged in a fluid with the acidity of Mountain Dew, the following will occur due to the normal acidity of the fluid: a. Between four days to at most seven days in the fluid, the mouse will have no calcium in its bones and bony structures. b. Within four to seven days in the fluid, the mouse’s abdominal structure will rupture. Its cranial cavity (head) is also likely to rupture within that time period. c. By 30 days of exposure to the fluid, all of the mouse’s structures will have disintegrated to the point the structures (excepting possibly a portion of the tail) will not be recognizable and, therefore, the animal itself will not be recognizable. Instead, after 30 days in the fluid, the mouse will have been transformed into a “jelly-like” substance. Likewise, Dr. Yan-Fang Ren of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry averred that a soft drink such as Mountain Dew could dissolve a mouse that was immersed in it, leaving behind only some soft tissue: “I think it is plausible that it could dissolve a mouse in a few months,” said Yan-Fang Ren of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, who has studied the effects of citric acid on bones and teeth. “But dissolving [the mouse] does not mean it will disappear, because you’ll still have the collagen and the soft tissue part. It will be like rubber.” According to Ren, Mountain Dew contains citric acid, a substance naturally found in citrus fruits that exists as a powder in its purified, industrialized form. Most citrus sodas mix in the stuff to give drinks their tangy bite, while most colas, such as Coca Cola and Pepsi, incorporate phosphoric acid for the same effect. Consequently, these drinks have a low pH value around 3 (very acidic). Coca Cola, with its dark coloring and non-fruity flavor, may be the soft drink most often compared to battery acid, but in 2004, a well-known study led by dentist J. Anthony von Fraunhofer found that citrus sodas like Mountain Dew and Sprite erode tooth enamel around six times faster than colas. However, after examining the rodent provided by the plaintiff to PepsiCo, Dr. McGill also ventured his opinion that it could not possibly have been found in the can of Mountain Dew as claimed, because it wasn’t even born until several weeks after the can had been filled and sealed: Based upon findings from my examination of the mouse, my educational and professional education, training and experience. my background with such matters as summarized above, and upon a reasonable degree of scientific, veterinary medical, and veterinary pathological certainty, I have (without limitation) the following opinions: a. The animal claimed to have been found in the subject can of Mountain Dew was a young mouse at the time of its death, at most 2 to 4 weeks old, though I cannot completely rule out the possibility the animal was a very young rat of approximately the same age. b. The mouse was dead when it entered the Mountain Dew fluid and had been exposed to air after it died. c. This mouse had not been born when the can of Mountain Dew was produced (filled and sealed) on August 28, 2008.

2true

Food, Food Contamination, food warnings, mountain dew

11035

Doubts on mammogram software

April 5, 2007

This story provides readers with a balanced discussion of the potential downside of incorporating newer technologies into routine practice too soon. Specifically, the story reports evidence recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine that computer-aided detection (CAD), a newer method of reading mammographies, was no better–and may have produced more false positives–than images read and interpreted by radiologists alone. There was 20% increase in biopsies after mammographers used the CAD software, and many of these women had non-malignant lesions. The article did not adequately describe the study. It was an observational study of select practices in the US – not randomized, not controlled and there was no information about how representative these samples were, especially in the centers that used CAD. The story reported on key results, but without adequately explaining how they were arrived at. The story provides multiple perspectives on the CAD technology in breast cancer detection. The reporter interviews not only the lead author of the NEJM study, but also the author of an accompanying editorial on this newer technology, as well as radiologists who talk about CAD in their practice. Interviews with clinicians who offer a rationale for not using the CAD technology give excellent balance to the story and provide an often overlooked perspective: newer and more high-tech devices are not necessarily better. The story notes the additional $20 per mammogram cost to Medicare with CAD. With the newer technology, costs to public health would increase via additional screening and unnecessary biopsies, and treatment would likely increase for cancers that may never become problematic (i.e. some forms of DCIS or ductal carcinoma in situ). Importantly, the story discuses the continued benefit of mammography for early detection of breast cancer. The story highlights that computer-assisted screening does not replace human judgment in interpretation of radiological films. More screening centers with the CAD technology are available; however, the new technology may not serve women any better. Traditional mammography with a radiologist interpreting the results may be more accurate and result in fewer unnecessary tests and biopsies.

The story notes the an additional $20 per mammogram with CAD when billed to Medicare. With the newer technology, costs to public health would increase via additional screening and unnecessary biopsies, and treatment would increase for cancers that may never become problematic (i.e. some forms of DCIS or ductal carcinoma in situ). The story provides data that there was little positive difference between radiologists' and CAD detection of cancer via mammogram images. However, the story does not mention results of any other evaluations of the technology (e.g. how it has been used in UK and other countries where results did show benefit in terms of increased detection of cancer). The story mentions that the newer technology may result in over treatment as there are more false positives with the CAD technology vs. radiologists' analysis alone. In a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was 20% increase in biopsy rates after mammographers used the CAD software. The article does not present the study well. It was an observational study of select practices in the US – not randomized, not controlled and there was no information about how representative these samples were, especially the centers that used CAD. The story presented some key results but virtually nothing about the study design. The story does not engage in disease mongering or suggest that women should opt for mammograms at centers that have the new CAD technology. The story provides many clinical perspectives on the CAD technology. The reporter interviews not only the study author and the author of an accompanying NEJM editorial, but also clinicians and radiologists who talk about use of CAD in practice. Interviews with clinicians who provide their rationale for not using the CAD technology provide excellent balance to the story. The story discusses the continued benefit of mammography for early detection of breast cancer. The story highlights that computer-assisted screening does not replace human judgment in interpretation of radiological films. The story mentions that about 30% of mammography centers use computer-aided detection (CAD) technology. The story mentions that CAD is a newer method of reading mammographies, but in a recent observational trial it was no better–and may have produced more false positives–than images read and interpreted by radiologists alone. The story does not rely solely on a press release for information, and there is independent reporting and sources cited not affiliated with the recently published data on CAD.

2true

18578

On changing the rules governing judicial conflicts of interest

March 29, 2013

"At PolitiFact, we award a Full Flop when an official makes a ""major reversal of position"" that is a complete flip-flop. We don’t think that fits here. Fallone sharply criticized the rule both in both the primary election and in the general election, and he went after Roggensack on it the first chance he had in a face-to-face meeting. But did he partially change his position or make inconsistent statements, which would earn him a Half Flip? A plain reading of the Wisconsin Eye interview is that Fallone didn’t express a problem at all with the Supreme Court’s take on recusals. In response to a pretty general, and pretty clear, question, he offered a sweeping endorsement of the status quo, which includes the rule backed by Roggensack. So the answer is strikingly inconsistent with his rhetoric only a few weeks later. For that, we think this merits a Half Flip."

Dave Umhoefer

"In a campaign with few flash points, the March 22, 2013 exchange between Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack and challenger Ed Fallone qualified as a standout moment. At a debate organized by the State Bar of Wisconsin and We the People/Wisconsin, Fallone repeated his criticism of Roggensack for helping change a rule so that getting a campaign contribution from a litigant is not enough on its own to force a judge to step down from a case. Roggensack defended the rule change -- but also accused Fallone, a law professor at Marquette University, of changing his position from acceptance of the rule to aggressive criticism of it. ""I do think his position is a bit different tonight,"" Roggensack said, comparing statements Fallone made in January to his criticism at the debate and in his TV ads. Time to roll out the Flip-O-Meter, which we use to measure whether a political figure has changed positions. It’s not a measure of whether any change is good politics or good policy, just whether the person has been consistent. The rule in question was written after several years of intense election activity in Supreme Court races featuring big spending and fundraising by candidates and major TV ad buys by ideological interest groups for or against the candidates. In late 2008, the court began considering the standards for when a justice should recuse himself or herself from hearing a case. In 2009, on a 4-3 vote it decided endorsements, campaign contributions and independently run ads in themselves are not enough to force a judge off of a case. The judicial ethics code still requires recusal if the judge has personal bias toward a litigant, has business ties to lawyers in a case, has a financial stake in the outcome, a relative is involved or the judge has taken a public position on the issue. Roggensack defended the rule, saying it would block mischief by donors who later want to force a judge off a case. Judges, she noted, can still voluntarily remove themselves. Fallone says lawyers should be able to make a recusal motion solely because of concern over a campaign donation. Another important bit: Roggensack said in the 2013 campaign that the change was in line with the court’s earlier ruling in Donohoo v. Action Wisconsin. In that 2008 case, one side sought to have then-Justice Louis Butler removed from a case because Butler’s campaign had received a $300 donation from a lawyer for the other side, and was endorsed by another lawyer. The court ruled, with no dissenters, that neither the endorsements nor the contributions meant that Justice Butler was disqualified by law from participating in the case. Now let’s review Fallone’s public statements on recusal. In 2011, before his entry into the race, Fallone signed a petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker. When he decided to run, the move prompted some to say he would be precluded from hearing matters related to Walker or even state government in general. Fallone disagreed, saying that justices can engage in various forms of political activity without having to recuse themselves from a case. In a blog post, he touched on campaign contributions. ""If the judge has received something of value from a party or an attorney, then they should recuse themselves because they are presumed to be in that person’s debt."" He added: ""However, campaign contributions received by a judge from a party or their lawyer don’t count as something of value unless the contributions are disproportionately large."" So, that’s our starting position. Fallone entered the race in December 2012 and started actively campaigning in January 2013. When he did, he criticized the court and said people have ""lost faith that it is independent of politics and special interests."" His comments on recusal in general were cautious; Fallone warned that ""there’s been a lot of gamesmanship"" in trying to force justices off of cases for their political ties -- something that echoed the point Roggensack made when the rule took effect.. Roggensack points to a Fallone interview taped early in his campaign by Wisconsin Eye as evidence of a Fallone flip flop. In that January 16, 2013 interview, Wisconsin Eye senior producer Steve Walters asked Fallone to speak about the ""debate over whether lawyers who contribute should force a justice off the case."" Here is the exchange: Fallone: ""The court has considered that issue. And the current rule is that the justices need not recuse themselves because they’ve been endorsed by a particular person or organization, or received a contribution from that organization."" Walters: ""Is that a fair standard? Would you change it?"" Fallone: ""I’m not running for the court to change those standards. Were I running for the Legislature, were I still an academic full-time, I might speak out as to my preference, but right now, I think that the court has spoken, the rules are in place. It’s something that at some point the U.S. Supreme Court has said, notwithstanding the Wisconsin rule, that at some point contributions can create a perception of bias that may implicate due process concerns..."" End of comment. About three weeks later, just before the primary, Fallone directly discussed the Roggensack-supported rule at a candidate forum. Notably, that Feb. 7, 2013, appearance was the first time Fallone and Roggensack had debated. ""That rule has opened the door for special interest spending on judicial elections, and it certainly creates the perception if not the reality that justice is for sale,"" Fallone said. ""That was a rule that was supported by Justice Roggensack, and after I’m elected to the court I will work with my colleagues to amend or repeal that rule."" Fallone said the rule change ""allows a party in a pending case to make campaign contributions to a judge sitting on the case and prevents the opposing parties from challenging the impartiality of the judge solely on the basis of those campaign contributions."" On Feb. 28, 2013, shortly after advancing past the primary, Fallone’s campaign issued a news release saying Fallone ""throughout his campaign"" has stated publicly he will work to overturn the rule. Turning his attention to defeating Roggensack, he dialed up the volume on his criticism and complaints about court partisanship. In a TV ad, he said Roggensack had ""risked the integrity of the court."" An on-screen graphic displayed the phrase, ""Legalized Bribery,"" citing a newspaper editorial about the rule. Back on Wisconsin Eye, this time on March 19, Walters asked about the ad’s accusations and Fallone’s objections to the rule. Fallone responded: ""This is the problem with campaign cash from special interest groups, flooding into our judicial races. The way to regulate it right now, as a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the only way to get control on it is to allow it to become the basis of a recusal motion."" He added: ""If the party feels that the judge in their case might be biased or influenced because they’ve received campaign contributions … or independent spending on their behalf -- from the people on the other side of the case -- that party could ask the judge to step down. And that’s the way the law was, that’s the way the Supreme Court rules were, in Wisconsin. The ‘Roggensack rule’ was pushed, was a change that Justice Roggensack voted for, and defended very prominently..."" Stop the tape. That’s the chronology of what happened. Let’s take stock. Did Fallone take one position in mid-January and dramatically reverse himself just a few weeks later on his way toward making a big deal out of the recusal issue in March? He said no, at the March 22, 2013, debate, and in an interview with us. His explanation: He was referring in the January Wisconsin Eye interview to the Donohoo ruling, not the Roggensack-backed rule. This gets technical. The Donohoo ruling, in the case involving Justice Butler, was a test of whether justices would decide a fellow justice should not hear a case. Fallone thinks the court was correct to decide not to force a fellow justice to step aside, so he told us he spoke favorably about the status quo in the Wisconsin Eye interview. In contrast, Fallone said he objects to the rule Roggensack voted for because it goes much further than Donohoo by making it essentially futile for lawyers even to ask judges to step down voluntarily if the issue is just a campaign donation, even a large one. Fallone said his recollection was that Walters’ question in January on Wisconsin Eye was ""related to whether or not the justice … could make the determination of impartiality or whether the other justices could make that determination,"" he said at the March 22, 2013, forum after Roggensack accused him of flopping. However, the video shows Walters does not present the question that way. He does use the word ""force,"" though, which Fallone says made him think about the Donohoo case. Fallone’s other recollection about the January interview was that ""I did not speak to the issue of recusal based on campaign contributions by a party or lawyer in the case."" The Wisconsin Eye video, though, shows that Walters did in fact ask directly about campaign contributions by lawyers. Political strategy may have played a role in how he couched his answer. Fallone was cryptic when we talked to him about it, saying: ""there was one race before the primary and another one after."" In January, Vince Megna, the third candidate in the primary, was running a nakedly partisan race while Fallone was trying to portray himself as above the fray. Our rating At PolitiFact, we award a Full Flop when an official makes a ""major reversal of position"" that is a complete flip-flop. We don’t think that fits here. Fallone sharply criticized the rule both in both the primary election and in the general election, and he went after Roggensack on it the first chance he had in a face-to-face meeting. But did he partially change his position or make inconsistent statements, which would earn him a ? A plain reading of the Wisconsin Eye interview is that Fallone didn’t express a problem at all with the Supreme Court’s take on recusals. In response to a pretty general, and pretty clear, question, he offered a sweeping endorsement of the status quo, which includes the rule backed by Roggensack. So the answer is strikingly inconsistent with his rhetoric only a few weeks later. For that, we think this merits a ."

http://www.wiseye.org/Programming/VideoArchive/EventDetail.aspx?evhdid=7266, http://www.wiseye.org/videoplayer/vp.html?sid=9465, http://video.channel3000.com/watch.php?id=48440, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cIvRnqkyBk, http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/rulhear/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=51874, http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/29408924.html, http://www.wiseye.org/videoplayer/vp.html?sid=971, http://www.wuwm.com/news/wuwm_news.php?articleid=11871, http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/67012672.html, http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/35240879.html, http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=33585, http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2012/03/25/signing-a-recall-petition-does-not-require-judicial-recusal/, http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/supreme-court-candidate-ed-fallone-says-hed-overturn-donations-rule-5a8viml-194096451.html

1mixture

Campaign Finance, Legal Issues, Wisconsin, Ed Fallone,

35194

In 2011 Mike Bloomberg said health care providers should not treat elderly prostate cancer patients in order to alleviate health care costs and overcrowding.

February 21, 2020

Bloomberg: It’s going to get worse with the health care bill [the Affordable Care Act] and with the governor’s cutbacks, because the governor’s cutbacks — which, he may not have any choice in all fairness to the governor — but there’d be less money, some of these small hospitals will close, some of these other programs, and people will come to the HHC [New York Health and Hospitals Corporation] hospitals, and that’s —

Dan MacGuill

In February 2020, we received multiple inquiries from readers about the accuracy of reports which claimed that 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg had once said health care providers should not treat elderly patients with cancer due to the improbability of their recovery and as a means of prioritizing treatments for younger patients and stemming a rise in health care costs and hospital overcrowding. On Feb. 18, the right-leaning Daily Caller website published an article with the headline “Mike Bloomberg Said Elderly Cancer Patients Should Be Denied Treatment to Cut Costs.” The article reported that: Billionaire and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said in a 2011 video that elderly cancer patients should be denied treatment in order to cut health care costs. “All of these costs keep going up, nobody wants to pay any more money, and at the rate we’re going, health care is going to bankrupt us,” said Bloomberg, who was then New York City’s mayor. “‘We’ve got to sit here and say which things we’re going to do, and which things we’re not, nobody wants to do that. Y’know, if you show up with prostate cancer, you’re 95 years old, we should say, ‘Go and enjoy. Have a nice [inaudible]. Live a long life. There’s no cure, and we can’t do anything.’ If you’re a young person, we should do something about it,” Bloomberg said in the video. The same article was later republished by the National Interest magazine, and on Feb. 17 the right-leaning Red State blog published an article with a headline that stated “Bloomberg Suggests Denying Care to Elderly Patient With Cancer Because Not Cost Effective in 2011 Video.” All three articles contained a 40-second video clip of Bloomberg sitting with a group of men, making the following remarks: […] And what things they can’t fix right away. If you’re bleeding, they’ll stop the bleeding, if you need an X-Ray, you’re going to have to wait. All of these costs keep going up, nobody wants to pay any more money, and at the rate we’re going, health care is going to bankrupt us. So not only do we have a problem, it’s going to bankrupt us, and we’ve got to sit here and say which things we’re going to do and which things we’re not. Nobody wants to do that. If you show up with prostate cancer and you’re 95 years old, we should say ‘Go and enjoy, have a nice [inaudible], lead a long life.’ There’s no cure and you can’t do anything. If you’re a young person, we should do something about it. Society’s not willing to do that yet. So we’re going to bankrupt us, and we’re not looking at […] Bloomberg says we should deny healthcare to the elderly. “If you show up with cancer & you’re 95 years old, we should say, Go & enjoy. There’s no cure, we can’t do anything. A young person, we should do something. Society’s not willing to do that yet.” pic.twitter.com/ZExr2Opghx — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 17, 2020 Bloomberg undoubtedly made the remarks shown in that video. Although the 40-second clip was cut from longer footage, it was not doctored or further edited. Likewise, the video did not present the remarks in their full and proper context, but that did not serve to substantially alter or misrepresent the sense or meaning of what Bloomberg said. He did indeed propose that, in light of rising health care costs and hospital overcrowding in New York, health care providers should not attempt to treat elderly patients with terminal cancer, instead prioritizing younger patients with better prospects of recovery. The conversation shown in the video took place in February 2011. Bloomberg was “sitting shiva” (a Jewish mourning ritual) with the family of Rabbi Moshe Segal, a Brooklyn man who, according to his family, spent 73 hours in a New York emergency room before his death. Shimon Gifter, a Brooklyn photographer, recorded more than nine minutes of Bloomberg’s visit and posted it to his YouTube channel. The full conversation can be viewed below. In the interest of providing as much context as possible, the following is an unedited transcript of the section of the discussion during which Bloomberg made his comments about treating elderly prostate cancer patients. The first few seconds shows Bloomberg entering the room, greeting and shaking hands with Segal’s family members, some of whom thank him for his visit. Bloomberg, who was mayor of New York City at that time, sits and observes that the deceased was “young.” A brother of Segal replies “Very young,” then quickly segues into a conversation about health care: Segal’s brother: …I apologize for bringing up conditions in New York City during this [visit], but in light of my brother’s death, I must tell you that we have, I know you know this, but from personal experience the overcrowding in the emergency rooms is insane. He was there for 73 hours [inaudible].

2true

Politics

5007

Shaheen announces broad legislation to address addiction.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen introduced sweeping legislation Friday to spend $63 billion over 10 years to combat addiction beyond the opioid epidemic.

Holly Ramer

"Shaheen, a Democrat seeking a third term next year, outlined her proposal at a news conference with recovery center workers, health care providers and advocates. Substance abuse disorders claim 70,000 lives a year nationally at a cost of $500 billion to the economy, she said. New Hampshire, meanwhile, has one of the nation’s highest drug overdose death rates. The state medical examiner’s office said in May that the 2018 total was 470 deaths, with results of two cases still pending. That was down slightly from the previous year, but Shaheen said such figures should not become the “new normal.” While Congress recently authorized $6 billion over two years to respond to the opioid crisis, Shaheen said providers and others need more flexibility in how they spend such money. Her legislation would increase state opioid response treatment grants from $1.5 billion per year to $5.5 billion per year for the next five years, and would change the grants to allow the money to be used for the treatment of disorders involving non-opioids, such as methamphetamines. It would also prioritize prevention, seeking to replicate a successful New Hampshire program aimed at helping children who witness violence and other trauma. “This is a substantial, long-term investment in getting more Granite Staters and Americans across the country on the road to recovery. It would help our state get ahead of the curve as we see different threats like meth that are coming in, and most important, it would save lives,” she said. Tym Rourke, who oversees substance use disorder grantmaking at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, praised the legislation, particularly the focus on flexibility. “We know that this issue is not going away. It is nuanced. It is ever-changing, and effective systems that bring the promise of recovery need to be nimble to address not only who’s coming in the door today but who will come in the door tomorrow and the day after that,” he said."

2true

New Hampshire, Opioids, Epidemics, General News, Legislation, Health, Jeanne Shaheen

13213

"Roger Stone Says Hillary Clinton ""shows up in Broward County"" and had a private meeting with elections supervisor Brenda Snipes."

October 31, 2016

Stone said Clinton showed up in Broward County and slipped into a private meeting with elections supervisor Brenda Snipes. Stone was wrong. He heard it third-hand from Trump supporters who claim they stumbled across such a meeting. Snipes and a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign in Florida denied such a meeting took place and we found no evidence that it did. Days later, Stone admitted he was wrong but then claimed that Clinton met with elections officials in Palm Beach County. He lacks evidence for that claim, too -- and both the elections supervisor and the Clinton campaign deny it.

Amy Sherman

"As early voters in Florida started casting votes, conservative websites buzzed about new evidence of crooked campaign tactics by Hillary Clinton to secure the crucial battleground state. The alleged scheme centered on left-leaning Broward County, already in the news for distributing some mail-in ballots without Amendment 2, a proposal to legalize medical marijuana. The claims originated from Roger Stone, a Donald Trump supporter and former campaign operative who talked of a ""secret"" meeting in an interview to conspiracy theorist and radio show host Alex Jones on Oct. 26. ""Yesterday Hillary Clinton shows up in Broward County — slips into a private meeting with the woman who runs the board of elections,"" said Stone, who lives in Fort Lauderdale. It’s common for election supervisors to meet with party officials if they have questions about election procedures. But a meeting directly with a presidential candidate would be unusual. Broward has about 600,000 Democratic voters — the highest number in Florida — so it is a key county for Clinton. Jones has millions of followers. The claim about Clinton secretly meeting with Brenda Snipes took off on social media, and some suggested that it was part of a voter fraud scheme. We found no evidence that such a meeting took place — because it didn’t. Within days, Stone retracted his claim. (A retraction doesn’t allow a political figure to avoid the Truth-O-Meter, but we will explain what he initially said and then his latest explanation.) No meeting When we first heard the claim about a Snipes-Clinton meeting we were skeptical. Although Snipes is a Democrat, the former school administrator is not known for partisan or political involvement. In fact, a long list of politicians endorsed her opponent in the primary, although Snipes then won in a landslide. Snipes was first appointed to the position in 2003 by Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. In an Oct. 27 interview, Snipes told us she hadn’t met with Clinton. ""She has not requested a meeting from me,"" Snipes said. ""I haven’t met with anybody and neither has my staff. I don’t even know who the members of her staff are. Neither I nor my staff met with Hillary Clinton."" Snipes told the Sun Sentinel that it was a ""big fat lie"" that she met with Clinton. A spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign in Florida also denied that such a meeting took place. Stone said he would post photos of the Clinton-Snipes meeting on Jones’ website Infowars ""shortly"" but never did. When we spoke to Stone on Oct. 28, he explained how he heard the allegation -- third-hand. He lacked even the most basic details, such as where this alleged meeting took place. He said information came from a coordinator for Citizens for Trump, a grassroots group. Stone said that the coordinator told him he spoke with two women from Citizens for Trump. The women said that they saw Clinton enter a meeting with Snipes. ""They claim they were inadvertently in a secured area of a presidential candidate visit,"" when they spotted Clinton enter a meeting with Snipes. ""Both admit they ran, they left the place in a hurry because they were shooed off by security."" The women tried to take photos and video while they were dashing away, Stone said. The photos didn’t show anything, and Stone said he is waiting for video. ""If Snipes denies it and there is no evidence to the contrary, I can say this is an incorrect report, but I’m not ready to conclude that yet,"" Stone said. After giving Stone a few more days to track down information, we circled back with him Oct. 31. That’s when he retracted his story -- or rather moved his story to a different county. Stone told PolitiFact Florida that he went back on Jones’ show Oct. 30 to say he was wrong about Snipes meeting with Clinton in Broward. ""I was incorrect about that,"" he said on the radio show. ""In fact, I was off by a county. The Clinton entourage pulled up behind the West Palm Beach office of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections. Hillary Clinton was physically seen by at least three witnesses meeting with officials from the building. These observers were shooed away. ... Palm Beach is of course ground zero of the Democrats’ vote stealing operation."" (We sought contact information from Stone for these alleged witnesses but Stone said they were too scared to talk.) Again, the Clinton campaign said no meeting took place -- and Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher also said she didn’t meet with Clinton. It is true that Clinton was in Broward and Palm Beach counties the week that Stone made these claims. She gave speeches at Broward College on Oct. 25 and Palm Beach State College on Oct. 26. During his interview with Jones, Stone tried to portray Snipes as incompetent and pointed to ballots missing the medical marijuana amendment. Stone said that Snipes announced that the amendment ""isn’t going to be on the ballot in Broward County because of some kind of a screw up."" That’s an exaggeration. The amendment is on the ballot in Broward, but four absentee ballots so far have turned up missing the amendment. A group supporting marijuana legalization sued Snipes over the ballots omitting Amendment 2. On Oct. 28, a Broward judge ruled in Snipes favor and concluded that she had taken appropriate steps to remedy the errors including providing replacement ballots. Our ruling Stone said Clinton showed up in Broward County and slipped into a private meeting with elections supervisor Brenda Snipes. Stone was wrong. He heard it third-hand from Trump supporters who claim they stumbled across such a meeting. Snipes and a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign in Florida denied such a meeting took place and we found no evidence that it did. Days later, Stone admitted he was wrong but then claimed that Clinton met with elections officials in Palm Beach County. He lacks evidence for that claim, too -- and both the elections supervisor and the Clinton campaign deny it.

http://truthfeed.com/hillary-busted-holding-closed-door-meeting-with-florida-elections-director-in-possible-voter-fraud-scheme/32355/, http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article111056322.html, http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-snipes-clinton-meeting-20161027-story.html, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV2HEiqdOXM, https://twitter.com/conservtivegurl/status/791448185562554368?refsrc=email&s=11, http://www.infowars.com/, http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article2766816.html, https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/59kqjb/attention_broward_county_florida_hillary_clinton/, https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/10/26/are-there-signs-of-a-voter-fraud-scheme-in-broward-county-florida-a-handful-of-mistakes-and-173000-solutions/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2UzPwNRSH8, https://www.quantcast.com/infowars.com, http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/clinton-at-pbsc-urges-students-to-vote-even-gives-/nsyCP/, http://www.browardsoe.org/

0false

Elections, Florida, Roger Stone,

1908

Ranks of people reaching age 90 tripled since 1980: report.

November 17, 2011

The ranks of the nation’s oldest residents are growing quickly now that people who reach age 90 are expected to live longer than ever before, according to a study released on Thursday.

Lauren Keiper

The number of Americans age 90 and older nearly tripled in the past three decades, to the current 1.9 million from 720,000 in 1980, said a report from the U.S. Census Bureau. That number may reach 9 million by 2050, according to the report titled “90+ in the United States: 2006-2008.” “I think it’s going to grow even faster than predicted in the report,” said Richard Suzman, director of behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging, which commissioned the study. More folks over the age of 90 means increased stress on pension and retirement funds, health care costs and caretaker relationships with younger generations, the study said. A person who makes it to 90 years old today is expected to live almost another five years, the study said. And, a person who lives to celebrate a 100th birthday is likely to live another 2.3 years. An increase in education, improvements to nutrition and public health, a decline in smoking, diabetes controls and a reduction in strokes have been major factors contributing to the aging boom, Suzman said. The report, which details the demographic, health and economic status of the oldest Americans, is based on the 2006- 2008 American Community Survey. It was released on the U.S. Census Bureau website. “This is very important data for policy makers and researchers to start considering whether to change the definition for oldest-old from 85 to 90-plus,” said Wan He, a Census Bureau demographer and an author on the report. The so-called “oldest-old” in the United States has generally been defined as 85 and older. Given the aging boom and increased life expectancy, that marker may now be inching closer to 90, researchers said, and it’s important to understand the differences among the older population. For example, of people aged 85-89, about 69 percent reportedly have a disability, which might include trouble hearing or seeing or a physical limitation. At ages 90-94, that number jumps to nearly 83 percent. Other study findings showed that the 90-plus population in the United States is overwhelmingly white with most earning a high school diploma. Education is linked to a number of factors related to a person’s well-being, according to the report, with higher education linked to lower mortality rates and better overall health. Women over the age of 90 outnumbered men by nearly 3 to 1, according to the report. Nearly 80 percent of those women were widowed while more than 40 percent of the men 90 or older are married, it said.

2true

Health News

4614

Former Bush, Reagan EPA heads warn on Trump rollbacks.

Environmental Protection Agency heads under three previous Republican presidents joined their Democratic counterparts Tuesday in telling lawmakers they were concerned by the Trump administration’s rapid rollbacks of environmental protections.

Ellen Knickmeyer

“The EPA on the track it’s on ... is endangering public health,” Christine Todd Whitman, EPA administrator under George W. Bush, told the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee. Whitman said she was “deeply concerned that five decades of environmental progress are at risk because of the attitudes and approach of this administration.” Lee Thomas and William K. Reilly, EPA chiefs under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, respectively, also spoke, as did Obama-era EPA leader Gina McCarthy. The unusual testimony came after seven of the 10 surviving, Senate-confirmed past heads of the 49-year-old EPA signed a letter urging lawmakers to work to make the EPA focus on its mission of protecting public health and the environment. “I’ve never seen a situation where three Republicans and one Democrat come in and sound the alarm the way they have today,” subcommittee Chairwoman Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, said after the hearing. Much of the criticisms from the former EPA heads focused on perceptions that the Trump administration was focusing on economic and financial interests, sidelining or rejecting science and minimizing environmental and health effects in moving to ease dozens of environmental regulations. Asked for reaction, EPA spokesman Michael Abboud said current EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler was working to engage the agency’s Science Advisory Board, or SAB. “Administrator Wheeler will continue to work with the SAB and try to improve relations that the previous administration took for granted,” Abboud said. Abboud did not immediately comment on the broader criticisms. While his predecessors were testifying, however, Wheeler tweeted that the agency was balancing “our regulations to ensure a healthy and safe environment while also saving the taxpayer $3.6 billion. And we’re just getting started.” With his comment, Wheeler tweeted a Washington Examiner article that quoted him as saying he had saved taxpayers that amount by rolling back 40 “major regulations, and plans to axe another 49.” Republicans on the subcommittee did not join the former EPA heads or Democratic lawmakers in expressing alarm at the rollbacks, most of which have targeted Obama-era measures on air, water, pesticides and other threats, and climate change. Republicans instead said the EPA under past presidents had grown uncommunicative or adversarial with businesses and ordinary people. “Under your leadership, I think the EPA went rogue,” Rep. David McKinley, a West Virginia Republican, told McCarthy. During the regulation-cutting Reagan administration, Thomas told lawmakers, congressional oversight and unending press coverage of EPA changes would be enough to get the president himself to step in and make sure the agency was still following its mission of protecting public health and the environment. There was sometimes the perception that when it came to the EPA, it was “jobs vs. the environment,” Thomas said after the hearing. “There’s been fifty years of history that says that’s not the tradeoff.”

2true

Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Health, General News, Politics, William K. Reilly, Environment, Christine Todd Whitman, George W. Bush, Gina McCarthy, Public health

8917

Cathay to let crew wear masks on all flights due to new coronavirus.

January 22, 2020

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) will allow all crew members and frontline employees to wear surgical masks due to concerns over a new coronavirus, and said passengers to and from Wuhan, China, could change or cancel flights for free through March 31.

Jamie Freed

The airline had earlier said only cabin crew operating mainland China flights could wear masks, in response to the airline’s flight attendants calling for permission to wear masks on all flights globally as cases have also been confirmed in the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. “Due to the evolving information from health authorities, we will allow crew members and frontline airport employees to wear surgical face masks when on duty at their discretion,” Cathay said in a statement. The coronavirus outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, struck as millions of Chinese prepared to travel for the Lunar New Year, heightening contagion risks. Wuhan’s local government said it would close all urban transport networks and suspend outgoing flights from the city as of 10 a.m. on Thursday (0200 GMT), state media reported, adding that the government said citizens should not leave the city unless there were special circumstances. The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union said on Tuesday it had received a “tremendous” amount of emails and messages from members concerned over catching the virus given they are exposed to over 300 passengers from numerous places on a single flight. On Wednesday evening, Cathay said on its website that rebooking, rerouting and refund charges would be waived for all tickets booked on or before Jan. 21, arriving to or departing from Wuhan through March 31, an extension from the Feb. 15 date listed the prior evening. Deaths from China’s new flu-like virus rose to 17 on Wednesday, with more than 540 cases confirmed. The virus has already spread beyond Wuhan to population centers including Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong. Cathay said that as required by the Hong Kong health authorities, it was distributing health declaration forms and will be making face masks and antiseptic wipes available at the boarding gate to passengers traveling from Wuhan to Hong Kong. “Our frontline staff are reminded to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene, and to remain alert and vigilant while being on the lookout for passengers presenting with infectious disease symptoms,” the airline said. Cathay has already been hit by plummeting demand as a result of anti-government protests in Hong Kong, leading it to cut capacity and defer the delivery of four planes. Shares in Cathay have fallen by 10% since the start of January as the virus spread. Jefferies analysts said shares in Cathay and mainland Chinese carriers could remain under pressure for some time if the coronavirus situation paralleled the 2003 SARS outbreak and cases continued to increase. That coronavirus outbreak killed nearly 800 people.

uk.reuters.com/companies/0293.HK

2true

Health News

9461

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT: TWO-WEEK DIET BETTER FOR DROPPING POUNDS

September 22, 2017

This article describes a small and limited study (men only!) concluding that “intermittent” dieting that gives participants alternating cycles of two weeks of less restrictive weight-maintenance eating after two weeks of more restrictive calorie counts results in more weight loss over time. The article properly notes the potential benefits of such a plan–better compliance and some possible metabolic assist that prevents dieting “plateaus” that frustrate so many trying to lose pounds. But while the article acknowledges the flaws in most trendy diets, it doesn’t offer readers enough specific information to determine whether this variation on the dietary theme will work for them any better than any other diet. For example, it doesn’t say what the two arms of the intermittent diet included in actual calorie counts and/or foods; what the starting and ending average weights were for the study group; or even how the researchers kept track of what the participants were actually eating or doing other than (presumably) weighing them every two weeks. It’s hard to exaggerate the confusion, frustration, misinformation, disinformation, and potential harm perpetrated by the gazillion diets proffered by those with and without any scientific basis to the growing numbers of obese and overweight in the U.S. and worldwide. Indeed, this Newsweek article starts out with just that notion, but can’t resist promoting yet another one based on very limited evidence and information. Diet studies are guaranteed instant news hooks, so it’s important that stories about them offer abundant context and detail.

Joann Rodgers, MS,Yoni Freedhoff, MD,Joy Victory

No information was included about the nature of the two diets involved in the study or their costs. Readers might want to know if pre-packaged meals were involved, or liquid meals, for example. As we found after reading the study, the food intake of the dieters was highly controlled, and this would presumably cost money to mimic in real life: “Meals were prepared by a commercial kitchen under the direction of a dietician and delivered to the participants homes each week.” The story notes that the men following the intermittent diet plan lost 47percent more weight than the control group, but not what the study group participants actually weighed before and after. It also notes that the intermittent dieters maintained an 18-pound loss six months after the study, but not whether they stayed on the diet or what other factors may have accounted for that outcome. Readers also won’t learn how many calories were consumed in each cycle of the study or what foods were involved. We’ll rate this N/A since it’s hard to imagine harm from restricting a third of normal calories for two week cycles over 16 weeks. As suggested above, readers needed more information about the men who participated (beyond age range), about what foods were in the diet plan and how the subjects eating, exercise or other habits were monitored; how active they were when not exercising, and what the follow up exam consisted of beyond a weight measurement. Also, what were the limitations of this study? No mongering; the article did a pretty good job of noting the ups and downs of weight loss schemes. The article included an “outside researcher” who has some bona fides in the study of intermittent fasting, albeit not dieting, and quotes her essentially saying that the findings were significant and made sense to someone who studies dieting challenges. The story really could have used a sentence or two at least about published outcomes of other diet schemes to put this new one in context. The only hint of it is from the outside researcher who said her own study of intermittent fasting saw weight loss plateau around 16 weeks. It was pretty clear from the article that this was a small study and the absence of any specific information about the diet itself would lead a reasonable reader to conclude that this one is not commercially or otherwise available. That doesn’t mean people won’t try to devise one on their own. The article explains how this diet differs from some others. There was a news release issued by the University of Tasmania but the article did quote an outside source.

1mixture

diet studies,weight loss

2576

Large Europe majorities for assisted suicide: survey.

November 30, 2012

Large majorities of west Europeans favor the legalization of assisted suicide, now allowed only in four countries on the continent, according to a new survey.

Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

In almost all the 12 countries polled, three-quarters or more of those responding to questions posed by the Swiss Medical Lawyers Association (SMLA) said people should be able to decide when and how they die. Two-thirds to three-quarters of them said they could imagine opting for assisted suicide themselves if they suffered from an incurable illness, serious disability or uncontrollable pain. “In practically all European countries, many signs indicate that the prevailing legal system no longer reflects the will of large parts of the population on this issue,” the SMLA said. The results of its poll “should allow politicians to take democratic principles into account when considering legislation on these issues,” it added in its introduction to the study. Assisted suicide is now allowed only in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland. The German government has proposed legalizing it as long as no profit is involved while France is debating whether to allow it. In both Germany and France, the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches oppose legalizing euthanasia and argue for better palliative care to ease pain for dying patients. The study was conducted by the Swiss pollster Isopublic in Austria, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. It did not survey the four European countries that allow assisted suicide, or countries in eastern Europe. Germans were most open to letting people decide when and how they die, with 87 percent supporting the idea, and results slowly descended to Denmark’s 71 percent in 11th place. Greece was the only exception to this strong support, with only 52 percent backing the idea of allowing assisted suicide. Spaniards were the most willing to consider asking for help to die, with 78 percent support, followed closely by Germans (77 percent) and the French (75 percent). In Britain, 71 percent said they might seek assisted suicide while Greece was again the most reluctant with 56 percent saying they might do so. More than three-quarters of those polled in all countries said only doctors or trained practitioners should perform assisted suicides. A majority of all respondents said doctors should not lose their licenses if they help a patient die. Results ranged from 84 percent in Britain to 58 percent in Greece. About 30 percent of those polled thought dying patients might occasionally be pressured by relatives or doctors into accepting assisted suicide if it is legalized. Roughly another 30 percent thought this would almost never happen. In Germany, where the government’s bill is now being debated in parliament, 76 percent said the proposed law was wrong to ban assisted suicide if the doctor is paid for the service. The bill would not punish those helping patients commit suicide, for example by accompanying them to Switzerland where assisted suicide has been legal since 1942. A rise in dying foreigners - particularly from Germany, France and Britain - ending their lives there has prompted calls for tighter laws, but Zurich voters rejected in 2010 a proposed ban on what opponents called “suicide tourism”. In the United States, assisted suicide is allowed in Oregon, Washington and Montana. Massachusetts voters narrowly defeated a proposal to legalize it there this month.

2true

Health News

7033

Amazon’s growing ties to oil industry irks some employees.

Amazon is getting cozy with the oil industry — and some employees aren’t happy about it.

Joseph Pisani

The online shopping giant, which already works with BP and Shell, has been trying to woo more oil and gas companies to use its technology to help them find drillable oil faster, angering workers who have been pushing Amazon to do more to combat climate change. The employees say the company should drop its work with industry entirely, arguing that it shouldn’t contribute to hurting the environment. Workers at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters have been meeting regularly, spreading the word and encouraging more involvement to put pressure on the company. The issue came to a boil on Wednesday, when workers publicly published a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos that was signed by more than 4,000 Amazon employees. “Amazon absolutely should not be helping oil and gas companies extract oil from the ground,” said Emily Cunningham, a user experience designer at the company who is part of a group of employees who have pushed Amazon to reduce its carbon emissions. Amazon, which hooked shoppers on getting just about anything delivered in two days, is likely to already have a massive carbon footprint. The very foundation of its business model is dependent on fossil fuels to power the planes, trucks and vans that ship its packages all over the world. The company is now courting oil producers to Amazon Web Services, which offers cloud computing services to government agencies and major companies, such as video-streaming service Netflix and digital scrapbooking site Pinterest. AWS is one of Amazon’s biggest money makers, accounting for more than 70% of Amazon’s total profit last year. It’s unclear how big of a business oil and gas companies are for AWS; BP and Shell have been clients for several years. But it seems Amazon has stepped up its courting of the industry recently. Andy Jassy, who runs AWS, spoke at last month’s oil and gas conference CERAWeek in Houston for the first time. Amazon was also one of the sponsors of the event, which brings together executives from some of the top oil and gas producers around the world. At one of Jassy’s discussions, he explained how Shell was using Amazon’s machine learning technology to figure out which wells would produce the most oil before drilling. “That’s a real game-changer,” he said at the conference. Questions sent to Amazon about its ties to the oil industry were not answered. Instead, AWS spokesman Jason Kello sent a link to its sustainability website, which said the company uses solar and wind power to some of its data centers. Erik Gordon, a professor who follows Amazon at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said ditching an entire industry as a client would seem unlikely, and could lead to more employees trying to tell Amazon which companies it can or can’t work with. “I’ll be surprised if Amazon gives into the demands,” he said. Employees at big tech companies have been emboldened to advocate for issues they care about. At Google, for example, high-paid employees walked out of their offices last year to protest the tech company’s mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations against executives. Amazon employees say they already got the company to budge somewhat on climate change. About 30 Amazon employees, including Cunningham, filed a shareholder resolution late last year asking the company to cut its use of fossil fuels to power Amazon’s data centers and the trucks and jets used to deliver Amazon’s packages. In February, Amazon announced that it would release its carbon footprint for the first time later this year and said it would make half of its shipments carbon neutral by 2030, but provided no details on how it will do that. Employees say the announcement wasn’t enough. In the letter released Wednesday, workers list a number of grievances, including that the company doesn’t have any detailed climate change plans and that it’s seeking the business of fossil fuel companies. “Amazon has the resources and scale to spark the world’s imagination and redefine what is possible and necessary to address the climate crisis,” the letter said. More young workers are demanding that their employers do more to combat climate change, said Sue Reid, a vice president of climate and energy at Ceres, a nonprofit that works with large investors and companies to make sustainability changes. She said that ignoring worker demands could hurt worker morale and bring more negative attention to the company. Often, making the changes benefits the companies since reducing energy use can mean cutting costs. “It’s kind of baffling companies don’t line up to do this,” Reid said. Nonetheless, workers like Rajit Iftikhar, a software engineer at Amazon, are still making a push. Iftikhar said climate change is a personal issue for him: He’s of Bangladeshi decent, a country that has been hurt by flooding and other natural disasters that have been linked to global warming. He said large companies like Amazon that are contributing to climate change should be doing more to reduce their impact. “This is extremely concerning to me,” he said. “The people who are least responsible for climate change will bear some of its worst consequences.” ____ Follow Joseph Pisani at http://twitter.com/josephpisani

http://twitter.com/josephpisani

2true

Climate, Climate change, Technology, Environment, Business, Jeff Bezos

38593

After music icon Prince died in April 2016 at the age of 57, rumors began swirling about his cause of death.

April 22, 2016

Rumors Surround the Death of Prince

Rich Buhler & Staff

As the world mourned the death of music icon Prince, a number of unsubstantiated and unverified rumors about his cause of death began circulating. Prince’s cause of death is unknown, and it’s likely to remain unknown until a Minnesota medical examiner can complete an autopsy, which could take weeks. There will be no way to verify what caused Prince’s death until an autopsy report is made public. That hasn’t stopped people from speculating, however. TMZ reported that Prince was treated for a drug overdose six days before his death: Multiple sources in Moline tell us, Prince was rushed to a hospital and doctors gave him a “save shot” … typically administered to counteract the effects of an opiate. Our sources further say doctors advised Prince to stay in the hospital for 24 hours. His people demanded a private room, and when they were told that wasn’t possible … Prince and co. decided to bail. The singer was released 3 hours after arriving and flew home. We’re told when Prince left he “was not doing well.” That report sparked rumors that Prince’s death days later could have been drug related. Then, a follow up TMZ report that the actor had visited a pharmacy four times in the days before his death, with an accompanying image him looking frail, fueled speculation that his death was somehow related to drug use: Our sources tell us Prince had frequented the Walgreens for years — but last night, people at the store were concerned because he looked much more frail and nervous than usual. As we previously reported, Prince’s team told the media he was suffering from the flu. It seemed odd, because his private jet had to make an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois last Friday, just 48 minutes from his home. Again, rumors that Prince died from a drug overdose are nothing more than speculation at this time. The same is true for separate rumors that Prince was privately suffering from AIDS and that he died from complications of the disease. COED led the charge in fueling speculation that Prince’s died from AIDS: The cause of death hasn’t been confirmed, but what we do know is that Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson) had been battling the flu for a couple of weeks. The flu by itself can be a dangerous illness, but it’s highly irregular for a fifty-seven-year-old man with millions of dollars and access to the best possible healthcare could die from the flu. Not impossible, just irregular. However, Prince’s death could be easily explained if it was discovered that he had AIDS. Many fans of his believe that’s the case. Reports that Prince died from AIDS , the flu or a drug overdose are nothing but speculation at this point. We’ll update this story when the medical examiner releases an autopsy report detailing his official cause of death. Comments

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3unproven

Celebrities

13475

Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever. Ever. Ever.

September 22, 2016

"Trump said, ""Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever. Ever. Ever."" Trump’s emphatic statement lacked any nuance. There is no comparison between the situation today and slavery, or the situation today and the Jim Crow era. Meanwhile, over the past half-century, African-Americans, despite consistently trailing whites, have made significant strides in life expectancy, educational attainment and other measures, and currently have unemployment and poverty rates that are near historical lows."

Louis Jacobson

"In his continuing efforts to court African-American voters -- a group that overwhelmingly backs Hillary Clinton -- Donald Trump took a moment at a rally in Kenansville, N.C., to reiterate his call for African-Americans to turn against the Democratic Party, arguing that the party has poorly served black Americans’ interests for decades. ""Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever. Ever. Ever,"" Trump said. ""You take a look at the inner cities. You’ve got no education. You’ve got no jobs. You get shot walking down the street."" The comment quickly sparked criticism on social media, with many accusing Trump of having no sense of American history. We analyzed Trump’s comment that black American communities are ""in the worst shape"" ever, using history and data. We’ll note here that African-Americans continue to trail white Americans in many important quality-of-life measurements, among them economic, health and criminal justice metrics. Being better than the past is ""a pretty low bar,"" said Bruce Levine, a historian at the University of Illinois-Champaign Urbana, who has authored books about slavery and the Civil War. Not only do African-Americans currently trail whites in many economic measures, but they ""continue to face major discrimination in hiring, access to housing, mortgages, and decent schools and — as almost weekly headlines from around the country demonstrate — death, while unarmed, at the hands of police."" A Trump surrogate, New York City council member Joseph Borelli, said something similar on CNN. ""I don't think he's talking about the days of Jim Crow, even the days of the civil rights movement of the '60s and obviously not slavery,"" Borelli said. ""But he's saying the African-American community is at times being outpaced by other communities."" If Trump had simply pointed out the ongoing discrepancies between blacks and whites in economic, health and educational data, he would have had a point. But that’s very different from what he actually said. (His campaign didn’t respond to a request for clarification for this article.) Slavery and Jim Crow The clearest counterpoints to Trump’s statement are more than two centuries of slavery for African-Americans, followed by another century of discrimination, disenfranchisement and lynchings in the South, the region where most blacks lived at the time. ""African-American communities are suffering from many social ailments, including poor schools and high unemployment, and it is important that candidates address these problems and offer specific ways of ameliorating the situation,"" said Eric Foner, a Columbia University historian who has written numerous books on slavery and post-Civil War reconstruction. ""However, it is absurd to say they are in the worst shape they've ever been. Putting slavery aside, go back to the Great Depression, or the crack epidemic of the 1970s and 1980s."" Herbert S. Klein, a historian at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who has written several books about slavery in the Western Hemisphere, agreed. ""Not to say that color is not a fundamental marker today of comparative health and well-being — African-Americans are still the poorest and least healthy of the U.S. population,"" he said. ""But it’s still much better than in previous decades."" Trump ""needs a history lesson — or two — desperately,"" added Harold Holzer, a historian at Hunter College who specializes in slavery and the Civil War. He’s also wrong for the past half century There’s solid statistical evidence that the black experience in America has been on an upward trajectory over the past half century or more. Here are some examples: • Unemployment rate Unemployment for black workers has zigzagged up and down with recessions and recoveries, just as it has for whites. But historically, the present day is a relatively strong period for black employment. In August 2016, the unemployment rate for African-Americans was 8.1 percent. While that’s almost double the rate for whites -- 4.4 percent -- it’s only been this low for black Americans in 5 percent of months since 1972, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began specifically tallying monthly black unemployment. Here’s a full chart showing the unemployment rate month by month: • Poverty rate Nationally, the black poverty rate is 24.1 percent, which is much higher than the 9.1 percent percent it is for whites. But that’s still lower than it has been in the past. The annual black poverty rate never fell below 30 percent between 1966, the first year it was tracked consistently, and 1994. And it has only been lower than it is now in four previous years, starting in 1999 and ending in 2002. Here’s a chart showing the data from the late 1970s until 2014. The green line shows the rate for African-Americans. • Life expectancy Shortly after 1900, black men could expect to live from birth until their early 30s, and black women could expect to live until their mid 30s. Since then, life expectancy for African-Americans has essentially doubled. Today, a black man has a life expectancy from birth in the low 70s, and for black women it’s the high 70s. Here is a chart from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing life expectancy trends from 1900 to 2000. It shows that whites have outpaced blacks in expanded lifespan, but it also shows that both whites and blacks have risen substantially: And here are the figures from 1970 to 2013, showing a similar pattern. • Educational attainment African-American graduation rates from high school and college have risen over time. The following chart shows black rates of high school graduation (the top lines) and black rates of college graduation (the bottom lines). Both have been climbing since the mid 1970s, when the data series began. • Crime On multiple occasions, Trump has said that crime is rising. There is evidence of an uptick for 2015 and 2016 -- neither of which is a year with final federal data available -- at least in certain cities, such as Chicago and Baltimore. But as we have previously noted, the homicide rate and the violent crime rate have fallen to such an extent over the past quarter century -- both in big cities and in the country at large -- that it would take many years of significant increases to return to the ""record levels"" of the early 1990s. African-Americans have also experienced a drop-off in the incidence of being a crime victim, at least through 2014, the last year final data is available. In 2005, for instance, 32.7 per 1,000 African-Americans age 12 and older were the victim of a violent crime. In 2013, that fell to 25.1, and by 2014, it had fallen further, to 22.5. Rates peaked in the early 1980s at nearly 40 per 1,000. Our ruling Trump said, ""Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever. Ever. Ever."" Trump’s emphatic statement lacked any nuance. There is no comparison between the situation today and slavery, or the situation today and the Jim Crow era. Meanwhile, over the past half-century, African-Americans, despite consistently trailing whites, have made significant strides in life expectancy, educational attainment and other measures, and currently have unemployment and poverty rates that are near historical lows.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/aug/30/donald-trump/donald-trump-wrong-inner-city-crime-reaching-recor/, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_01.pdf, https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/historical/fig8.jpg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZADcyBDZSw, http://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-people/hstpov2.xls, https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv14.pdf, http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ln, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-black-community-problems-defense-228467, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/20/african-americans-are-in-the-worst-shape-theyve-ever-been-trump-says-in-north-carolina/

0false

National, Economy, Education, History, Race and Ethnicity, Public Health, Donald Trump,

8609

Coronavirus epidemic 'under control' in Norway: health minister.

April 6, 2020

The coronavirus epidemic is “under control” in Norway, the health minister said on Monday, pointing to the low rate of transmission of the disease.

A person carrying the novel coronavirus in Norway contaminates now on average 0.7 other individuals, Bent Hoeie told a news conference. The government’s goal had been to limit the spread to maximum one other person. “Before we implemented tough restrictions, every contaminated person in Norway infected 2.5 other individuals on average,” Hoeie said. “If this development had been allowed to continue, we would probably have been in the same situation that we have seen in some countries in Europe.” The Norwegian government announced three weeks ago emergency shutdowns of many public and private institutions, including schools and kindergartens, sending the economy into a tailspin and triggering hundreds of thousands of layoffs. The government will decide on Wednesday whether to extend the restrictions beyond mid-April. It was not immediately clear which measures could be lifted, nor when they would be. Local authorities in the capital Oslo and Trondheim, Norway’s third-largest city, have already said they will not reopen schools and nurseries by mid-April because they needed more time to prepare. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said on Monday the number of coronavirus cases in the country stood at 5,755 people, with 59 deaths. The FHI also estimated for the first time on Monday that around 14,000 people in total may be carrying the virus in Norway, or 0.26% of the population. “It is good news. It shows the restrictions have worked,” Camilla Stoltenberg, the head of the institute, told public broadcaster NRK. “(But) we don’t know which specific measures worked.”

2true

Health News

34466

A government report from 2008 states that 35,000 veterans of the first Gulf War died as a direct result of adverse effects from an Anthrax vaccine they were mandated to receive.

January 18, 2017

We have reached out to Scott Miller, the filmmaker, for clarification regarding this figure and are awaiting his response.

Alex Kasprak

On 17 January 2017, a short documentary titled Vaccine Syndrome (written and directed by Scott Miller, who has other anti-vaccine films to his credit) saw its world premiere as part of a larger series of anti-vaccine documentaries named “Vaccines Revealed” which were released over a ten-day period in late January 2017. Vaccine Syndrome makes the claim that over 35,000 Gulf War veterans have died as a result of receiving mandated anthrax vaccinations during the period of time leading up to and during that conflict. Here is the claim and the entirety of its supporting evidence, as presented in the film: “Over 35 thousand soldiers have died due to adverse effects from the anthrax vaccine” -RAC-GWVI Government report 2008 Though Vaccine Syndrome cites a specific government research paper from 2008 titled “Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans: Scientific Findings and Recommendations,” it is unclear what within the report led the filmmaker to that figure. The cited report focused on Gulf War Syndrome, an enigmatic illness suffered by as many as 32% of Gulf War veterans that, despite its prevalence, remains poorly understood. This is the official government definition of that condition, as stated in the research paper in question: Gulf War illness is a serious condition that affects at least one fourth of the 697,000 U.S. veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. This complex of multiple concurrent symptoms typically includes persistent memory and concentration problems, chronic headaches, widespread pain, gastrointestinal problems, and other chronic abnormalities not explained by well-established diagnoses. No effective treatments have been identified for Gulf War illness and studies indicate that few veterans have recovered over time. Among the many speculated causes of Gulf War Syndrome, one promoted strongly by anti-vaccine advocates is that the illness is tied to the compulsory vaccination of roughly 150,000 service men and women deployed during the 1991 Gulf War. This article is not about the veracity of a possible link between vaccinations and Gulf War Syndrome, nor it about about any claims related to government malfeasance in performing such vaccinations (which were in some cases administered without informed consent). Instead, this article is strictly an investigation into the allegation that a government document cited by Vaccine Syndrome offers credible evidence documenting that the deaths of 35,000 service members were the direct result of mandated anthrax vaccinations. According to the government report, about 150,000 Gulf War veterans out of about the 700,000 personnel deployed in that conflict are believed to have received one or two anthrax shots, which were most commonly given to troops who were in fixed support locations during the war. This means that if we are to understand the Vaccine Syndrome claim as meaning that 35,000 military veterans who had been administered anthrax vaccinations during the first Gulf War died from them, then the film is arguing that 23.3% of veterans who received such vaccinations are now dead as a direct result — an extraordinarily high death rate mentioned not once in the 454-page document cited by the film. One possible way to arrive at something approaching a figure of “more than 35,000” based only on the cited report would be to take the estimate of the total number of servicemembers inoculated (150,000) and assume that this population of individuals experienced a similar rate of Gulf War Syndrome (between 25 and 32 percent, per the report) as the overall population of Gulf War veterans, and then either misinterpret or misrepresent “affected by Gulf War Syndrome” as “killed by Gulf War Syndrome”: Studies consistently indicate, however, that an excess of 25 to 32 percent of veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War are affected by a complex of multiple symptoms, variously defined, over and above rates in contemporary military personnel who did not deploy to the Gulf War. That means that between 175,000 and 210,000 of the nearly 700,000 U.S. veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War suffer from this persistent pattern of symptoms as a result of their wartime service. The above exercise serves as less as an explanation and as more of an illustration into how much of a reach the number of 35,000 is, based upon the evidence provided. Unless there is some other plausible interpretation of the claim that “35,000 soldiers have died due to adverse effects from the anthrax vaccine,” we can find no justification for the figure Miller arrived at from information contained in the report he cited.

3unproven

Medical, vaccinations

16628

Blogger Says George Soros and Bill Gates are funding a bioweapons lab in Sierra Leone that caused the Ebola outbreak.

August 11, 2014

Bloggers worried about the New World Order connected the bank accounts of Soros and Gates to a facility responding to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone -- a facility they strongly suggest is responsible for the outbreak. A direct link to the billionaires is unproven. One researcher who received education and research grants from their foundations does not warrant the much-hyped connection. Moreover, the virus did not start from a research lab in Kenema, giving the bloggers’ incendiary claims even less credibility.

Katie Sanders

"The underbelly of the Internet is no place to find credible information about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Last week we brought you example No. 1. Example No. 2 is as follows: Several conspiracy websites have raised questions lately about a ""bioweapons lab"" in Sierra Leone being the source of the virus. Questions like, ""What's behind the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone? Could it possibly be a U.S. bioweapons project gone amuck?"" Some of the websites tie the ""bioweapons lab"" to billionaires George Soros and Bill and Melinda Gates. ""At the epicentre of the current Ebola epidemic is the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone, which houses a U.S. a (sic) biosecurity level 2 bioweapons research lab with links to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Soros Foundation,"" reads an excerpt shared on sites like RumorMillsNews.com and BeforeItsNews.com. We wanted to set the record straight. Soros and Gates There’s no proof of Soros and Gates funding a bioweapons lab in Kenema, one of the largest cities in Sierra Leone with a population of about 150,000. And there’s really no case that a bioweapons lab in Kenema is behind the outbreak. ""The assertion is absurd,"" said Chris Williams, spokesman for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation did provide a $1 million Ebola-related grant to support emergency efforts in West Africa by UNICEF, he said. A spokeswoman for Soros’ Open Society Foundations also said it does not fund any labs, much less a bioweapons lab, in West Africa. We can’t exactly pinpoint the reason people are connecting Soros and the Gateses to the Ebola outbreak, our best guess is people are trying to insinuate they had something to do with creating the current crisis. One blogger who invoked the Soros/Gates connection, Dublinsmick, referenced the website of the ""viral fever bioweapons lab inside Kenema Government Hospital,"" saying it ""read like a roll call of New World Order organizations."" The New World Order is a popular conspiracy theory whereby a group of wealthy elites plan to take over the world. Here’s the list, which does not include Soros or Gates: The Consortium is a collaboration between Tulane, Scripps Research Institute, Broad Institute, Harvard University, University of California at San Diego, University of Texas Medical Branch, Autoimmune Technologies LLC, Corgenix Medical Corporation, Kenema Government Hospital (Sierra Leone), Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (Nigeria) and various other partners in West Africa. …The Consortium intends to expand this program to include other important infectious agents such as Ebola, Marburg and other Arenaviruses that are of great concern to public health and bioterrorism,"" states the bioweapons lab website. This text matches a list of partners of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium, which conducts research at Kenema. No, it does not describe itself as a bioweapons lab. And the program director said there is no financial connection to Gates or Soros. We did find one very, very loose Soros-Gates link. One of the Broad Institute researchers who is part of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium is a Harvard University computational geneticist who earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School as a Soros Fellow, and her work is supported by awards from groups that include the Gates Foundation. Of course, she was also a Rhodes scholar, won a Packard Foundation award in science and engineering, and was recognized by the National Institutes of Health with an Innovator Award. A spokeswoman for the Broad Institute, Haley Bridger, said the institute has not received money from Soros. She said it has received money from the Gates Foundation, but it was for research on tuberculosis, not Ebola. The consortium Before the current Ebola outbreak, members of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium focused their work on a bigger concern in West Africa: Lassa fever, a viral disease with symptoms that resemble Ebola but is more common than Ebola in that area. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded a five-year, $15 million contract to Tulane to continue researching Lassa fever, and the consortium was created in 2010. Tulane University researchers have worked in the area for about a decade to better understand Lassa fever and develop modern diagnostic assays, or tests to see if a person has the fever, and treatments. Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone is a major partner of the research scientists from Tulane and other universities. The multi-facility hospital contains a laboratory and ward dedicated to Lassa fever research and isolating Lassa fever patients. When the first Ebola case was diagnosed in Guinea, about three hours from the Kenema site in in early 2014, a team from the consortium went to Kenema to help the site switch gears. ""We were there working 10 years and then Ebola came here,"" said Dr. Robert Garry, a Tulane University professor and program manager of the consortium. ""We’re not here to turn Lassa and Ebola into a kind of superweapon. It can do that on its own."" The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases also sometimes works in the facility, Garry said. Part of its mission is to prevent viruses like Ebola and Lassa fever from being used deliberately as bioterrorism agents against soldiers and civilians. It did not respond to our inquiry by our deadline. Ebola infections have cropped up over the years, but the latest spell is the deadliest, with 961 deaths and 1,779 infections reported by the World Health Organization. The first case was reported in Gueckedou, Guinea, in early 2014 before it spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, some of the poorest parts of Africa with limited access to medical care (and in some cases, a deep mistrust among some residents of medical professionals spreading the disease). So, no, it did not start at the country-owned hospital in Kenema, though the city is a major player in a very dispersed outbreak. The hospital’s medical staff is in the thick of treating patients infected with the Ebola virus, and several nurses and doctors have died in the course of treating patients. That includes Dr. Sheik Umar Kahn, a worldwide pioneer of Ebola research from Sierra Leone who died July 28. Kahn was the physician in charge of the Lassa Fever Program at the Kenema hospital, so he worked with researchers from Tulane and elsewhere. ""The conspiracy theories really just kind of, wow,"" Garry said. ""Our teammates are dying, and you’re talking this trash about us."" Our ruling Bloggers worried about the New World Order connected the bank accounts of Soros and Gates to a facility responding to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone -- a facility they strongly suggest is responsible for the outbreak. A direct link to the billionaires is unproven. One researcher who received education and research grants from their foundations does not warrant the much-hyped connection. Moreover, the virus did not start from a research lab in Kenema, giving the bloggers’ incendiary claims even less credibility."

http://vhfc.org/consortium/people

0false

Ebola, Public Health, PunditFact, Bloggers,

10351

GPS-like system helps surgeons align joints

October 8, 2008

Too often when a reporter learns about a developing medical technology used locally, the result is a gee-whiz rave. This well-reported, judiciously written story on navigation-assisted joint surgery is a welcome exception. The story plainly says the surgical technique has not been proven effective. The reporter interviewed four physicians about its value, including one who has not used the machine. The story discusses the potential benefits and harms without falsely emphasizing either one. The reader takeaway is that there is an interesting but uNPRoven new technology available for local joint replacement surgery. Some may want to talk to their doctors about it, but none will go expecting a miracle treatment certain to improve outcomes. The story could have been improved in two ways: It’s not clear who is paying the cost of using the machines if insurers do not. It’s also not clear what the cost difference is between navigation-assisted and conventional joint replacement surgery. The story did not report on potential conflicts of interest. It’s not known whether any of the physicians quoted has worked as a researcher or consultant for the device maker. The reporter should have asked and reported the answer.

It’s good that the report states the price of the device–above $200,000–and that at least one insurer does not pay for its use. But the story should have stated what it costs a patient to get treated with the device, and who bears any additional costs. The story says the device’s efficacy is uNPRoven, but it does not explore the body of inconclusive data. There is a 2007 study that shows 5 years of outcome data. The fact that that study did not demonstrate improved outcomes suggests the device does not have big, measurable benefits. The story would have been stronger had it referred to this study. The story reports that the extra time required to do a navigation-assisted surgery may lead to more complications. The story would have been stronger if it had mentioned the potential risks associated with the surgeon learning curve. The story does an excellent job of stating, plainly and repeatedly, that there is no conclusive evidence the surgical device improves outcomes. The story doesn’t exaggerate the severity or prevalence of the underlying joint conditions. Neither does it make false claims for the relief the device can provide. The story does use one positive anecdote, which could be read to mean the navigational device contributed to the positive outcome. The reality is that most patients do very well with the surgery without the need for a navigational prompt to the surgeon.But since the story states repeatedly that the technology’s benefits are uNPRoven, this is not a serious flaw. The reporter interviewed four surgeons, three of whom use the device and one of whom does not. The reporter did not quote the device maker, an impressive show of restraint. A key shortcoming: The reporter did not explore potential conflicts of interest of the sources. Doctors who are early adopters of expensive new technologies often have relationships with the device makers. So do the medical facilities where the doctors practice. Such relationships should have been disclosed, or the lack of relationship should have been plainly stated. The story indicates that most surgeries are done without the navigation device, and that other similar devices are in development. The story names four Iowa institutions that have the computer assisted surgery device. It also names four surgeons who use it. Ideally the story would stated how many of the devices are in use in Iowa, Des Moines or the U.S. But the story includes sufficient information to be rated satisfactory under this criterion. The report makes clear that the device has been in use for a few years but is still considered investigational. By reporting how many surgeries certain centers and surgeons have done with the device, the story provides an adequate view of its clinical use. There is no evidence that the story relied solely or largely on a news release.

2true

18483

Demand for public transportation is reaching record levels in Wisconsin.

April 22, 2013

"1000 Friends of Wisconsin, arguing for restoration of transit aid, claimed that ""Demand for public transportation is reaching record levels in Wisconsin."" The group can point to hot spots where ridership in 2011 reached heights unseen for many years, and makes a decent argument that transit cuts have suppressed demand. But its claim goes well beyond that, suggesting a quantifiable statewide trend at ""record"" levels -- and hard evidence of that is lacking."

Dave Umhoefer

"The environmental group 1000 Friends of Wisconsin sees at least 10 reasons to change the way the state Department of Transportation spends money. The Madison-based group opposed the cut in state funds for public transit in Gov. Scott Walker’s first budget, which simultaneously boosted aid for highways. In the end, state lawmakers moderated Walker’s 10 percent cut  by adding to the funding for transit for disabled riders. Now, with Walker’s second two-year budget awaiting action, 1000 Friends is pushing state lawmakers to restore the 2011-13 transit cuts. ""We should allocate more funds for transit to respond to the increase in demand and ridership,"" the group said in an April 11, 2013 press release. ""Transit ridership in America is at its highest in 50 years and demand for public transportation is reaching record levels in Wisconsin, yet transit systems in the state are in jeopardy of disappearing due to lack of state support."" The group’s claim that  ""demand for public transportation is reaching record levels in Wisconsin"" got our attention. Let’s take this one for a spin. Record ridership? When asked for backup, 1000 Friends pointed to a mix of ridership statistics and state and national demographic and lifestyle trends. Officials with the group reference a ""substantial increase"" in transit trips over the last decade in Wisconsin -- not including Milwaukee County -- based on the National Transit Database. That database covers fixed-route buses, van and taxi service for the disabled, trolleys, light rail and other forms of public transit in Wisconsin, excluding Amtrak passenger rail. The trend ""shows that demand is going up,"" 1000 Friends executive director Steve Hiniker said. Maybe so. But up to ""record levels""? We ran the numbers with help from the Federal Transit Administration’s National Transit Database and found a 37 percent jump in transit trips outside Milwaukee County from 2002 to 2012. In 2011, Madison reported its highest bus ridership since the late 1980s, La Crosse its highest in 30 years and Valley Transit in the Fox Cities its highest since 1995. And the group correctly cites U.S. figures showing that national transit ridership, including trains, has grown since the 1960s, driven mostly by strong interest in light rail and heavy rail. Bus ridership has remained mostly flat. The trends were reported in 2012 by the American Public Transportation Association using the national database. But two others sets of numbers provided by the group, and confirmed by PolitiFact Wisconsin, paint a much different picture. Once you include Milwaukee County -- the largest transit agency in the state by far -- the trend becomes a drop of 8 percent in rides comparing 2002 to 2012. Three of the last four years show decreases. The Milwaukee County Transit System’s bus service has steadily lost ridership -- nearly 30 percent by one estimate -- since 2002 as it has cut routes and eliminated stops due to funding shortages. Fares have increased 50 percent in 11 years. The Milwaukee County numbers are enough to put the statewide trend into the negative. The bottom line: Trips statewide totalled more than 71 million in 2012, down from about 77 million in 2002. That puts a dent in the group’s claim about ""record levels"" in Wisconsin. Transit cuts Hiniker argues that the statewide figures don’t tell the whole story on demand for transit in Wisconsin because funding cuts have led to higher fares and made transit less available, while other states have added service. Outside of Milwaukee, total transit ridership dipped in 2012 after the transit cuts in Walker’s first budget, according to figures from the national database. The city of Racine, for example, reported a double-digit drop in 2012 bus rides after raising fares 33 percent following the budget cut. A year earlier, ridership had jumped 10 percent. ""Most of my clients are on a fixed income,"" said Al Stanek, Racine’s transit manager. ""Our customers just end up riding less while spending the same amount of money on transportation."" Demand can be up, or remain steady, even as ridership declines, Stanek and Hiniker said. Researchers cite funding levels -- and their impact on fares and convenience -- as among the many factors that influence ridership demand. So funding cuts can help explain why ridership is not higher. But that lack of supply is not evidence that demand is reaching ""record levels."" The group also argued that demand is a function of lifestyle and demographic trends at the state and national level, as well as U.S. ridership trends. Wisconsin’s over-60 population is growing, and that ""has implications for ... expanded transit services for drivers who transition from cars to public transportation or paratransit services,"" the state’s Commission on Transportation Finance and Policy concluded in a January 2013 report. The same state report found that  ""young people are waiting longer to apply for driver licenses."" That, along with national surveys showing more young people are turning to transit supports an inference that young Wisconsinites do too, Hiniker said. Hiniker conceded, though, that ""sloppy"" work explained why the group’s press release asserted that demand was at an all time high in Wisconsin. The intended statement, which is on the group’s website, said simply that demand was up nationwide, without mentioning Wisconsin, he said. Our rating 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, arguing for restoration of transit aid, claimed that ""Demand for public transportation is reaching record levels in Wisconsin."" The group can point to hot spots where ridership in 2011 reached heights unseen for many years, and makes a decent argument that transit cuts have suppressed demand. But its claim goes well beyond that, suggesting a quantifiable statewide trend at ""record"" levels -- and hard evidence of that is lacking."

http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/FactBook/APTA_2012_Fact%20Book.pdf, http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/about/tfp/docs/keep-wi-moving-report.pdf, http://wispolitics.com/1006/1304111000friends.pdf

0false

State Budget, Transportation, Wisconsin, Georgia Department of Transportation,

14299

"Bernie Sanders Says Hillary Clinton supported and continues to ""support fracking."

April 13, 2016

"Sanders said that Clinton supported and continues ""to support fracking."" As secretary of state, Clinton supported and promoted fracking around the world. As a 2016 candidate, her support comes with conditions such as local choice, stronger environmental regulation and chemicals. Sanders’ claim is accurate but needs additional information."

Linda Qiu

"Looking to out-green Hillary Clinton in New York, Bernie Sanders charged that Clinton’s position on fracking was at odds with voters. New Yorkers ended the practice in the state in 2014, and Sanders called for a nationwide ban during an April 11 rally in Binghamton. Clinton, in contrast, remains on the side of the frackers, Sanders said on NBC’s Meet the Press, when he launched a multipart attack on Clinton’s positions on fracking, trade and campaign finance. ""Well, when you vote for virtually every trade agreement that has cost the workers of this country millions of jobs, when you support and continue to support fracking, despite the crisis that we have in terms of clean water,"" he said April 10, ""and essentially, when you have a super PAC that is raising tens of millions of dollars from every special interest out there, including $15 million from Wall Street, the American people do not believe that that is the kind of president that we need to make the changes in America to protect the working families of this country."" Was Sanders telling the fracking truth? (We examined Clinton’s support for free trade in a separate fact-check.) While Clinton’s past support of fracking is well documented, her current position leaves more wiggle room than Sanders’ statement suggests. Shale promoted 'round the world To refresh, fracking or hydraulic fracturing means producers are blasting pressurized water, sand and chemicals into shale rock miles underground to extract natural gas. The Environmental Protection Agency considers shale gas to be clean energy. Some environmentalists, though, are doubtful that it’s that much better than coal or oil, given reports that fracking can cause methane leaks (a greenhouse gas that’s much more potent than carbon dioxide) and earthquakes and set water ablaze. Clinton clearly supported the practice as secretary of state. Her special envoy for international energy affairs launched the Global Shale Gas Initiative encouraging other countries to explore shale as an energy source. An in-depth investigation by progressive magazine Mother Jones said that Clinton’s support of fracking was ""part of a broader push to fight climate change, boost global energy supply, and undercut the power of adversaries such as Russia that use their energy resources as a cudgel."" We found instances of Clinton and the State Department talking up fracking to Latin America, the European Union, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Pakistan, China and India. ""The United States will promote the use of shale gas. Now, I know that in some places is controversial. But natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel available for power generation today, and a number of countries in the Americas may have shale gas resources,"" Clinton said in a 2009 speech to the Inter-American Development Bank. After Clinton left the State Department in 2013, she continued to support fracking but repeatedly called for ""smart regulations"" in speeches and in her book, Hard Choices. Fracking with nuance in 2016 Compared with Sanders’ unequivocal opposition and the Republicans’ strong support, Clinton has a more complicated answer when it comes to fracking. Essentially, she supports it as long as there’s environmental oversight and no local opposition. Here’s how Clinton detailed her position during the March 6 debate in Flint, Michigan: ""I don’t support it when any locality or any state is against it, No. 1. I don’t support it when the release of methane or contamination of water is present. I don’t support it — No. 3 — unless we can require that anybody who fracks has to tell us exactly what chemicals they are using. So by the time we get through all of my conditions, I do not think there will be many places in America where fracking will continue to take place. And I think that’s the best approach, because right now, there are places where fracking is going on that are not sufficiently regulated."" (""My answer is a lot shorter,"" responded Sanders. ""No, I do not support fracking."") Clinton spokesman Josh Schwerin referred us to Clinton’s plan ""to address the fracking-related risks people are concerned about."" ""This is particularly important given that the federal government doesn’t get to say where fracking occurs and where it doesn’t, but can put new safeguards in place,"" Schwerin said. Katie Brown of Energy in Depth, the research and education arm of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, told PolitiFact that Sanders’ position to ban all fracking is outside the mainstream. ""Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, joins Democrats across the county such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, and California Gov. Jerry Brown, and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (just to name a few), who have all touted strong regulations by the states and supported fracking for its environmental and economic benefits,"" Brown said. Warren Gunnels, Sanders’ policy director, referred us to a Reuters article, in which supporters of fracking cast Clinton’s comments as campaign rhetoric and opponents urged her to cut the caveats and ban it outright. But what exactly would Clinton’s caveats mean for frackers? A portrait of regulated extraction Clinton’s three conditions would uphold existing bans and add new ones to the mix. But they wouldn’t amount to a universal ban. The first condition leaves local and state bans in place, such as those in Vermont, New York and a few dozen cities and counties across America. Her second condition would add dozens of sites that have methane emissions or water contamination. Natural gas is primarily methane, so we’ll assume Clinton is talking about ""fugitive emissions"" or leaks. Estimates for fugitive emissions, typically expressed as a percentage of the total production, vary widely. A round up of studies by watchdog blog Carbon Brief found estimates ranging from 0.6 to 9 percent (the threshold for being cleaner than coal is 3.2 percent). Various industry and independent research has indicated that a good chunk of leaks come from a small number of ""super-emitters"" (roughly one in 25 facilities, according to a 2015 Colorado State University study). Clinton could ostensibly shut down these methane spewers, which include, for example, about 50 production sites in northern Texas and four lift wells in the Gulf Coast. Water contamination is not systemic, according to a controversial 2015 EPA study, which nonetheless identified 151 cases of fracking fluid spills in 11 states from 2006 to 2012. Robert Howarth, a noted critic of fracking and biogeochemist at Cornell University, estimates at least 4 percent of production wells pollute water, but contends that the problem is widespread given the sheer number of wells. Under Clinton’s condition, fracking could be banned in, for example, at least 25 counties in Pennsylvania and at least 12 counties in Colorado, if not in all 11 states with noted cases of spills. Frackers are already meeting Clinton’s third condition, to an extent. At least 26 states have some rules on chemical disclosure on the books, though most allow frackers to protect ""trade secrets,"" according to the American Chemical Society. In addition, the Obama administration now requires drillers on federal and tribal lands to report the composition of their fracking fluid to FracFocus, an industry-backed registry of more than 100,000 wells across America. (Here’s an example.) Environmentalists contend that these rules are not nearly enough. Howarth told PolitiFact that chemical additives are ""a small part of the problem."" ""The frack return fluids are full of really nasty materials in addition to the additives, and the precise nature of this toxic brew is seldom known,"" he said. ""Clinton's focus on just the additives is misguided."" That being said, Clinton’s condition could ban fracking in Virginia and Missouri, two states with fracking activity but no disclosure rules in place at the time of this report. Here’s a map that shows how Clinton’s conditions could affect fracking in America: Our ruling Sanders said that Clinton supported and continues ""to support fracking."" As secretary of state, Clinton supported and promoted fracking around the world. As a 2016 candidate, her support comes with conditions such as local choice, stronger environmental regulation and chemicals. Sanders’ claim is accurate but needs additional information."

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b01669, http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/three-times-clinton-has-repeated-herself-fracking, https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/20/obama-tightens-fracking-regs-requires-chemical-disclosure, https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/feb/19/rachel-maddow/msnbcs-maddow-earthquakes-led-texas-airport-close-/, http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es506359c, https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2010/09/03/global-shale-gas-initiative-balancing-energy-security-and-environmental-concerns, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/us/politics/transcript-democratic-presidential-debate.html, https://dailycaller.com/2015/12/03/hillary-supported-fracking-in-africa-now-opposes-it-in-us/, http://cogcc.state.co.us/data.html#/cogis, http://www.pnas.org/content/110/44/17768.abstract, http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/hillary-clinton-fracking-shale-state-department-chevron, https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-april-10-2016-n553716, https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-06/documents/hf_es_erd_jun2015.pdf, http://files.dep.state.pa.us/OilGas/BOGM/BOGMPortalFiles/OilGasReports/Determination_Letters/Regional_Determination_Letters.pdf, https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2016/02/12/hillary-clintons-plan-for-ensuring-safe-and-responsible-natural-gas-production/, http://fortune.com/2016/03/07/hillary-clintons-pledge-to-limit-fracking-falls-on-unconvinced-ears/, http://www.carbonbrief.org/explained-fugitive-methane-emissions-from-natural-gas-production, http://cen.acs.org/static/tracking-fracking.html, https://www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing

2true

Environment, National, Bernie Sanders,

17646

"In Wisconsin, more than 300,000 people have ""some kind of addictive gambling problem, whether it’s pathological or what we’d categorize as a problem gambler."

November 27, 2013

"Appling said more than 300,000 Wisconsinites have ""some kind of addictive gambling problem, whether it’s pathological or what we’d categorize as a problem gambler."" She relied on a published figure from a legitimate organization, but even in the squishy world of problem gambling research, there is little if any hard evidence that backs up this estimate extrapolated from an outdated national study. The best evidence is it’s much lower, especially when describing ""addictive"" gambling problems. Perhaps fewer than 45,000 Wisconsin adults fit that description, plus an unknown number of adolescents."

Dave Umhoefer

"Arguing against approval of a massive tribal casino in Kenosha, the leader of a conservative social issues group recently warned of a rise in both crime and the number of gambling addicts. ""When you put a new gambling establishment closer to people, you invite more people to engage in that, and it becomes addictive,"" Wisconsin Family Action president Julaine Appling said on Wisconsin Public Radio on Nov. 13, 2013. ""As a result of that, we have more problem gamblers and more pathological gamblers."" How big is the problem? ""By Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling numbers,"" Appling continued, ""we are running over 300,000 people in this state with some kind of addictive gambling problem, whether it’s pathological or what we’d categorize as a problem gambler."" Wisconsin Family Action fights expanded gambling, gay marriage and abortion, while backing school choice and teaching of alternatives to evolution theory. If Appling is correct, that would mean 5 percent of state residents would fit into that category. Is she right? Definitions first: Pathological gambling, sometimes known as compulsive gambling, can involve a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop and ""chasing"" losses, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling. ""Problem gambling"" is a broader category that includes pathological gambling but also less-serious cases that involve disruptions in any major area of life: psychological, physical, social or vocational. To back up her claim, Appling pointed us to the website of the Wisconsin affiliate of the National Council on Problem Gambling, as well as a think-tank study mentioning the council’s research. The Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling, funded by state government and donations from Indian tribes and others, runs a 24-hour helpline and educates people about gambling’s impact. According to the council’s latest fact sheet, ""approximately 333,000 Wisconsin residents have a gambling problem."" Time to fold ‘em on this item? Nope. Time to hold ‘em. The number on the Council’s website doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Rose Gruber, executive director of the council, said the 333,000 figure was based on nationwide findings in the National Gambling Impact Study Commission Report requested by Congress and released in 1999. There is no Wisconsin-specific data in that study or any other we located. Gruber said the 1999 study showed that nationally, 5 percent to 7 percent of the  total population had either a pathological gambling issue or are ""problem"" gamblers, a category that is considered less serious. In Wisconsin, that range would yield a number in the 333,000 range that Gruber’s organization cites. But there are several big problems. First, Gruber’s estimate came from the total state population, while the Impact Study Commission report she cites actually focuses strictly on the adult population. That mismatch significantly raises the Wisconsin estimate she uses. Second, we couldn’t find the 5 percent to 7 percent range in the 1999 study, nor could she point us to it. Third, the study is almost 15 years old. The Wisconsin council’s national umbrella organization, the National Council on Problem Gambling, says more recent research shows that 1 percent of U.S. adults are estimated to meet criteria for pathological gambling in a given year. An additional 2 percent to 3 percent would be considered problem gamblers. The combination (3 to 4 percent) is a significantly lower than 5 percent to 7 percent range. The national group also uses the adult population -- not total population -- when talking about the prevalence of problem gambling, based on figures cited by the national group’s veteran executive director, Keith Whyte. Applying Whyte’s figures to Wisconsin’s adult population would mean that up to 173,000 adults are problem gamblers. Outside experts To help sort this out, we turned to two of the country’s leading experts on gambling addiction: Howard Shaffer, a Harvard professor of psychiatry and past editor of The Journal of Gambling Studies, and Ken Winters, a University of Minnesota psychiatry professor. They said it was scientifically problematic to estimate Wisconsin’s problem from a national figure, but not a major shortcoming because gambling is so widespread now. Shaffer said the 3 percent to 4 percent figure was on target for adult problem gamblers. The prevalence has come down since the 1999 study, he said. Winters said the range in recent studies has been 3 percent to 6 percent. The national range cited by the pair, applied to Wisconsin, would mean that 130,000 to 260,000 Wisconsin adults are problem gamblers. Appling’s statement was broad and would include adolescent gamblers, who studies have shown more easily fall into gambling addiction. That would boost the number of problem gamblers past the adult figures we’ve discussed. Our experts said, though, that it’s hard to quantify how much because of problems inherent in studying juvenile gambling. And casinos don’t allow gamblers under 21. There’s a shortcoming in Appling’s claim that makes that something of a moot point: her use of the term ""addictive."" That applies to the small subset of pathological gamblers, but not to the broader group of problem gamblers who have not been diagnosed with a gambling disorder, the experts said. The ""addictive"" group is limited to the pathological ""gambling disorder"" group, and it’s 1 percent or less of adults, the two researchers said. In Wisconsin, that would be 43,400 adults or fewer, a far cry from more than 300,000. The number would still be under 100,000 if you added in adolescents at the rates we saw in various studies, 6 percent. So Appling relied on a number that turns out to be way too high, and compounded the problem with her description. Our rating Appling said more than 300,000 Wisconsinites have ""some kind of addictive gambling problem, whether it’s pathological or what we’d categorize as a problem gambler."" She relied on a published figure from a legitimate organization, but even in the squishy world of problem gambling research, there is little if any hard evidence that backs up this estimate extrapolated from an outdated national study. The best evidence is it’s much lower, especially when describing ""addictive"" gambling problems. Perhaps fewer than 45,000 Wisconsin adults fit that description, plus an unknown number of adolescents."

http://www.wpri.org/Reports/Volume25/Vol25No5/Vol25No5p2.html, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/reports/finrpt.html, http://www.psychiatry.org/practice/dsm/dsm5/dsm-5-video-series-gambling-disorder, http://www.wi-problemgamblers.org/pdfs/fact_sheet_2012.pdf, http://www.wpr.org/shows/big-question-approve-or-reject-kenosha-casino

0false

Gambling, Wisconsin, Julaine Appling,

9654

More than shots, there's new help for allergy sufferers

April 21, 2016

This is a Q&A with a physician about allergy treatments. It offers a mostly solid if standard review of what allergies are, what treatment alternatives are available, and some information about costs. It’s a “sole-source” consumer health story of the kind prepared regularly by news organizations via interviews with local (in this case Philadelphia-based) medical experts. Some news organizations have a rotating list of institutions whose experts are asked to address various medical topics, bringing PR value to the experts’ institutions and consumer health expertise to readers and viewers. Although it’s missing any hard quantitative research data, the story hits a good number of high notes and benchmarks in the “news you can use” category. One downside was its heavy emphasis on newer delivery options for immunotherapy, which will not be needed in most cases. Allergies are a common cause of sometimes debilitating and clearly miserable symptoms, affecting millions of men, women, and children. Health agency statistics worldwide support the point–also made in the piece–that prevalence has been consistently rising and the costs of treating allergies has soared into the billions in the U.S. alone. Thus, there is wide and deep interest in what works to control or prevent symptoms, and in therapies that target the immunologic sabotage that is at the root of allergic reactions.

Joann Rodgers, MS,Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH,Joy Victory

Although the physician-expert interviewed for the article works at an academic medical center–where there is conceivably a vested interest in root-cause and advanced immunotherapies instead of OTC symptomatic care–the article deserves gold stars for noting the costs of the newer sublingual tablet and drop treatments, and some important information about what most insurers will and won’t cover. Ideally, the article would have also mentioned the costs of over-the-counter options to provide a comparison point. Even with a Q&A format, articles about allergies can be more useful by making sure to include relative and absolute rates of benefit from various treatments. This article leaves the readers with the idea that all or most people get relief from one or more of the triad of treatment approaches: avoidance of allergy triggers, OTC or prescription drugs like antihistamines and nasal steroids, and immunotherapies like allergy shots. But drawbacks and side effects should be made clear, so that the true benefit is more accurate. For example, while the article does note that successful immunotherapy often takes years, it doesn’t report: The article duly notes the most common side effect of the newer sublingual drops treatment and the rare risk of serious side effects from allergy shots. The article could have been strengthened by including information on the side effects of OTC and prescription drug treatments. The article relies on the credentialed expertise of an allergy specialist, and the “Ask the Expert” format means it’s mostly a “review” of best practices and what’s available therapeutically. The interview subject makes allusions to trial data (“significant decrease” of symptoms, follow-up period) without giving information on the quality of the studies. This story didn’t disease monger; allergies are certainly a common affliction. But, while this isn’t enough to lose the Satisfactory rating, there was what we call “treatment mongering” because of the emphasis on immunotherapy for treatment. Most people won’t need this level of treatment, and will do well with standard OTC and prescription medications. The format clearly excludes independent sources commenting on what the expert is saying. The interviewee himself might have quoted another source or two and strengthened his information, but overall, N/A seems reasonable. The article does a pretty good job of explaining alternatives to the relatively new immunotherapies, as well as some treatment cost comparisons. As stated earlier, the discussion was weighted toward immunotherapy and not OTC and prescription medications. The report makes clear what’s FDA approved and what’s not; and where to get the latest immunotherapies, and where people cannot get them. Good job on this. It seems reasonably clear that the timing is related to the fact that this is prime allergy season for readers. Although the intro makes a grab for a news hook, it’s a pretty weak one, given that the “newest” immunotherapies have been available for at least a couple of years. But again, we don’t think the article was intended to break any news or present anything as especially novel. The feature was not based on a release as far as we can tell from the university’s news release site.

2true

allergies,immunotherapy

16461

"Recently Rick Scott ""closed 30 women’s health care centers across the state."

September 18, 2014

"In a fundraising email sent out by the Crist campaign, Frankel wrote that Scott ""closed 30 women’s health care centers around the state."" Crist’s campaign said that the email should have said that Scott cut money for rape crisis centers, but even that smaller claim isn’t accurate. More importantly, the statement that Scott closed 30 health centers is completely wrong."

Amy Sherman

"Democrats have been counting on a gender gap to win races in 2014, and Democrat Charlie Crist is part of that trend, lobbying hard for the women’s vote in his battle against Republican Gov. Rick Scott. Crist has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood PAC (despite his own mixed record on abortion in the past), has vowed to push for equal pay for women and now is attacking Scott’s record on funding rape crisis centers. Crist has also enlisted endorsements from Democratic women, such as U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach. Frankel recently penned a campaign fundraising email attacking Scott that was emailed out by the Crist campaign. ""If Rick Scott wins, the next four years are going to be rough for Floridians,"" Frankel said in an email on Sept. 12, adding, ""Recently he closed 30 women's health care centers across the state."" This claim warranted a thorough check-up from the Truth-O-Meter -- and we quickly diagnosed the heart of the problem in Frankel’s words. Women’s health care centers We reached out to both Frankel and the Crist campaign. Neither could provide evidence for closed health care centers. The Crist campaign admitted the statement was an error. ""That should have read ‘He cut funding to 30 rape crisis centers across the state,’ "" Crist campaign spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said. Frankel's spokeswoman Majda Sarkic sent us this response: ""The issue here is not about email wording. It is about Rick Scott denying Florida women and more specifically victims of sexual violence the healthcare they need and deserve."" So the statement that Scott closed 30 women’s health centers is completely wrong. We decided to then look at what happened to funding for rape crisis centers under Scott. The state funds rape crisis centers through various pots of money. A portion comes from the Rape Crisis Trust Fund, which comes from fines assessed on felony criminal defendants. Since not all of the defendants pay what they owe, advocates have sought an additional stream of dollars from the Legislature. For several years, programs have shared a recurring amount from the Attorney General’s Office and in some years the Legislature and governor approved additional money. Based on our interviews with women’s advocates and state officials, here is the amount of state dollars that went to rape crisis centers statewide: Legislative session Money from state AG (usually from general revenue) Other general revenue Trust Fund** 2007-Crist $400,000 0 $1.5 million 2008-Crist $400,000* 0 $2 million 2009-Crist $250,000 0 $2 million 2010-Crist $250,000 0 $1.8 million 2011-Scott $250,000 0 $1.8 million 2012-Scott $500,000 0 after Scott vetoed $1.5 million approved by Legislature $1.4 million 2013-Scott $500,000 $2.5 million $1.3 million 2014-Scott $500,000 $2.5 million $1.3 million So why did Scott veto $1.5 million in 2012 but then approve $2.5 million in 2013 and again in 2014? In 2012, Scott’s veto during Sexual Assault Awareness Month drew some scrutiny. The Huffington Post quoted Scott’s spokesman at the time, Lane Wright. ""This new funding of $1.5 million would have been duplicative, since, as a state, we already fund sexual violence programs,"" Wright said. ""There was no information suggesting any needs in this area weren’t already being met."" Representatives of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence met with state staff after the veto, said Jennifer Dritt, the nonprofit group’s executive director. ""There were a number of people in the Legislature who spoke with the governor’s office about the need, and in 2013, there it was in his recommended budget,"" Dritt said. ""We were never in any governor’s recommendation for funding until Gov. Scott recommended $2.5 million in 2013."" A spokesman for Scott’s campaign cited a 2013 statement by Dritt praising Scott’s recommendation for $2.5 million. ""This appropriation will make a world of difference in the lives of Florida’s citizens, and we’re grateful for his commitment,"" Dritt said. The increase in money has allowed some centers to hire additional staff which helped reduce waiting lists and expand services. For example, the Nancy J. Cotterman center in Broward used the $255,000 in new money over two years to hire a full-time crisis intervention specialist, part-time crisis intervention counselors and expand community outreach including to hospitals. Dritt said Scott’s veto did not cause any of the 30 rape crisis centers to close in 2012. Two centers have since lost certification and one chose to give it up while one new center was added, bringing the current total to 28. Our ruling In a fundraising email sent out by the Crist campaign, Frankel wrote that Scott ""closed 30 women’s health care centers around the state."" Crist’s campaign said that the email should have said that Scott cut money for rape crisis centers, but even that smaller claim isn’t accurate. More importantly, the statement that Scott closed 30 health centers is completely wrong."

http://www.charliecrist.com/updates/listen-spell-disaster, http://www.flgov.com/governor-scott-florida-families-first-budget-invests-in-keeping-florida-families-and-visitors-safe-2/, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/feb/07/charlie-crist/charlie-crist-has-called-himself-pro-life-and-pro-/, https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?id=FL22&cycle=2014, http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2011/07/gov-rick-scott-hosts-abortion-bill-event-at-mansion.html, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/rick-scott-florida-govern_n_1447294.html, http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/09/4338742/crist-planned-parenthood-tv-ad.html, http://www.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/prevention/sexual-abuse-or-violence-prevention/index.html, https://www.fcasv.org/policy/state-legislative-priorities, https://docs.google.com/document/d/10MMM3fq1wcKpW6M6mhA2PAD9suwbmEerLV-Q6s8bNsE/edit, http://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Final-Veto-List-4-17-12.pdf, http://www.fcasv.org/publications/newsletters/2012-legislative-wrap, http://www.fcasv.org/publications/newsletters/rape-crisis-centers-address-media-governor%E2%80%99s-funding-veto

0false

Health Care, State Budget, Women, Florida, Lois Frankel,

15279

As governor of Florida I defunded Planned Parenthood.

August 7, 2015

"Bush said, ""As governor of Florida I defunded Planned Parenthood."" In 2001, he used his line-item veto power to end funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates, and that funding never returned. We must note that the money was for family planning and health care services, not abortions, but he did cut off state money for the group."

Joshua Gillin

"Former Gov. Jeb Bush is using the recent release of activist videos criticizing Planned Parenthood as a chance to advertise his own record on restricting abortion. During the first Republican primary presidential debate on Aug. 6, 2015, Bush sidestepped a question from Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly about his time on the board of the Bloomberg Family Foundation, which has donated millions to Planned Parenthood. Instead, Bush reiterated he had a long history of opposing abortion. ""Here’s my record: As governor of Florida I defunded Planned Parenthood. I created a culture of life in our state,"" he said. (Watch the exchange in the video here.) Bush earlier this week said the federal government should do the same. We’ve documented Bush’s opposition to abortion before, as well as his preference for abstinence-only education. But we wanted to check if he cut off state assistance for Planned Parenthood while governor, well before the current controversy. It turns out he did, long prior to recent calls to end federal funding for the group. Targeted cuts Planned Parenthood is a network of affiliated nonprofit organizations that cooperate with each other, led by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Funding comes from a wide range of sources, including private donations, grants, health center revenue and Medicaid. In Florida, there are currently two affiliates accredited with the national organization after several mergers, so the group is not organized quite the same as it was in 2001. There are now 23 health centers in the state, 16 of which provide abortion services. (Three of these were recently cited by the state Agency for Health Care Administration for allegedly providing second-trimester abortions without a license, violations Planned Parenthood has denied. A fourth was cited for improper recordkeeping.) Both Bush’s campaign and the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates pointed to the same thing: Two line-item vetoes Bush made to the state budget in 2001. According to a 2001 state fiscal analysis, Bush vetoed $115,759 in funding for Northeast Florida Planned Parenthood in Duval County and $187,084 for Department of Health contracts with Planned Parenthood in Collier and Sarasota counties. As governor, Bush was well-known for his frequent use of his veto power. That money was not for abortions, but was being used to provide family planning services to poor women, and had been available for more than a decade. To give you an idea of the scale of the state assistance, one of the affiliates confirmed in 2001 the payments made up about a quarter of their budget. It used the money to help pay for pap smears and sexually transmitted disease screening and treatment, among other services. The other affiliate noted the money went to treat patients who had no health insurance or access to Medicaid. Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida alliance, confirmed the group did not get any state funding after Bush’s 2001 veto. It still does not receive assistance from the state now. Our ruling Bush said, ""As governor of Florida I defunded Planned Parenthood."" In 2001, he used his line-item veto power to end funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates, and that funding never returned. We must note that the money was for family planning and health care services, not abortions, but he did cut off state money for the group."

https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/may/26/jeb-bush/saga-jeb-bushs-one-time-alias-veto-corleone/, http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/revenues/reports/fiscal-analysis-in-brief/FiscalAnalysisinBrief2001.pdf, https://plannedparenthood.org/about-us/annual-report, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress-to-launch-first-strike-targeting-planned-parenthood-funding/2015/08/03/1d904e50-39fc-11e5-8e98-115a3cf7d7ae_story.html, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/may/20/emilys-list/jeb-bush-held-1-million-hostage-abstinence-only-ed/, http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/062301/nes_6498176.shtml#.VcQjm_lVhBd, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/jun/25/ultraviolet/jeb-bush-did-not-appoint-guardian-rape-victims-fet/, http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/violations-against-planned-parenthood-may-not-be-valid/2240334, https://jeb2016.com/statement-federal-funding-planned-parenthood/?lang=en, http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/state-completes-inspections-of--planned-parenthood-sites/2240074, http://www.sptimes.com/News/061601/State/Gov_Bush_lops_off_290.2.shtml, https://youtu.be/FiObbt-29cs

2true

Abortion, Florida, Jeb Bush,

23491

"Gov. Rick Perry ""has overseen the highest Texas unemployment in 22 years."

August 28, 2010

Back to Basics PAC says Gov. Rick Perry has overseen the highest unemployment in Texas in 22 years

Meghan Ashford-Grooms

"In a full-page ad that ran Tuesday in newspapers across Texas, including the Austin American-Statesman, a political action group asks voters to ""tell Rick Perry to stop cowering and face Texans like a man."" It's the latest salvo in the crossfire over which gubernatorial candidate is afraid to debate: Democrat Bill White or GOP incumbent Rick Perry, who says he's waiting for White to release more of his income tax returns. The ad, paid for by Back to Basics, a pro-White PAC, claims Perry is scared to ""defend his miserable record."" Among its charges: Perry, who's been governor for 10 years, ""has overseen the highest Texas unemployment in 22 years."" That's practically a whole generation. Is it true? After contacting Back to Basics, we learned that its researchers had looked at annual unemployment data for Texas from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and compared those rates with the average thus far for 2010, which is 8.3 percent. The last time the annual rate was higher was 1987 — 23 years ago -- when it was 8.5 percent. Following the advice of Cheryl Abbot, an economist for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in Dallas, we examined monthly statewide unemployment rates that have been seasonally adjusted, which accounts for temporary employment surges (such as during the Christmas holidays). The state's all-time low is 4.2 percent, which it hit most recently in January 2001, shortly after Perry took office. The all-time high: 9.3 percent, in November 1986. During Perry's tenure, the highest monthly unemployment rate has been 8.3 percent, in April and May of 2010. The last time the unemployment rate was greater? July 1987, when it was 8.4 percent (Republican Bill Clements was re-elected as Texas' governor later that year.) So, considering unemployment on a monthly basis, the jobless rate in April 2010 was the highest it's been since July 1987, 22 years and nine months earlier. But that hasn't stopped Perry from praising Texas' economic performance during his tenure. ""We’re dealing with joblessness like everyone else is, but our unemployment rate is more than a full point below the national average thanks to the strength of our economy,"" the governor said in a speech prepared for delivery Aug. 12 in West Texas. Texas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July was 8.2 percent, compared with the national rate of 9.5 percent. Responding to Back to Basics' statement that the governor ""has overseen the highest Texas unemployment in 22 years,"" Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for Perry's campaign, told us that ""we are one of the few states that continues creating jobs and attracting renowned companies to relocate and expand within our borders."" Asked to point to specific ways that Perry has contributed to the state's economic health, Frazier said the governor has ""led the charge to establish the Texas Enterprise Fund"" to encourage companies to expand in Texas. She also said Perry ""has worked with state leadership to uphold principles of low taxes, fiscal restraint and reasonable regulations, which are the reasons Texas is ahead of the pack economically compared to other states."" Still, we wondered how much credit — or blame — governors deserve for the employment situation in their states, and asked several experts that question. ""The short answer: Their power is very limited,"" said Susan Hansen, a political science professor at the University of Pittsburgh. In a 1999 article in the journal Political Research Quarterly, Hansen argues that the Federal Reserve — with its power to affect interest rates — the president and Congress ""have far more influence over the nation's economy (and) unemployment ... than do the states in our federal system. State elected officials seem to be well aware of their vulnerability to economic downturns, and their policy efforts (symbolic though they may be) must be considered in this light."" Such ""symbolic"" efforts, wrote Hansen, run the gamut from economic-development programs to overseas trips to promote a state's business climate — all things Perry has done. Hansen also said state programs that use incentives to lure companies — like the Texas Enterprise Fund — are ""marginal at best"" in boosting employment. Paul Brace, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston, said that virtually every state offers such programs and that their actual benefits are exaggerated. The Texas Enterprise Fund has spent $397 million since 2003 on projects that have generated ""more than 53,600 new jobs,"" according to an Aug. 18 news release from the governor's office, which oversees that fund. To put that number in context, Texas had a net gain of about a million nonfarm jobs between 2003 and 2010, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Jobs credited to the enterprise fund are about 5 percent of that total. More important, the experts agreed, were the state's strength in sectors where employment remains high, particularly natural resources and agriculture. Brace cited the state's housing markets, which avoided the worst pain of the subprime mortgage crisis, and the absence of a personal income tax in Texas. When asked what role the governor may have played in the Texas rise in unemployment, Abbot of the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that higher jobless rates are a national trend and ""you could only say that (Perry) had a part in it in the sense that all other 49 governors had a part"" in growing joblessness nationwide. Cliff Walker, director of the Back to Basics PAC, said that ""as CEO of the state, (Perry) certainly touts his success in creating a strong economic climate. If he takes credit for that, why shouldn't he also take the responsibility for ""the state's job losses?"" Perhaps because the first is politically advantageous while the second is not. Either way, the experts we talked to agreed that governors have little to do with statewide job losses or gains that take place on their watch. As Brace put it: ""Overall unemployment wasn't (Perry's) fault, but our relatively good performance also has little to do with what he did."" In other words, synchronous events don't necessarily add up to responsibility. We made the same point in our January ruling (!) on a Republican Party claim that as mayor of Houston, White ""presided over"" construction of a Planned Parenthood ""abortion clinic."" We found White no more responsible for the privately funded clinic than he was for the weather or baseball playoffs during his tenure. In this case, Back to Basics' numbers stand up: The state's unemployment rate under Perry has hit a 22-year high. But the suggestion that the governor is to blame does not."

https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/governors/modern/page2.html, https://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/politifact/082710_btbresponse.doc, https://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/politifact/082710_annualdata.xls, https://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/politifact/082710_hansenarticle.pdf, https://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2010/jan/31/republican-party-texas/gop-says-white-allowed-gigantic-abortion-mill-be-b/, http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/08/new-ad-rick-perry-a-coward-for.html, http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/15020/, http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/lauhsthl.htm, http://www.tracer2.com/cgi/dataanalysis/labForceReport.asp?menuchoice=LABFORCE, http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/15006/, http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=latest_numbers&series_id=LASST48000003, http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/06/15/dems_hijack_perry_press_confer.html

1mixture

Economy, Texas, Back to Basics,

5784

Montana county faces transgender discrimination complaint.

A Montana county may have discriminated against one of its own attorneys by denying the transgender woman access to health care.

The Billings Gazette reported Wednesday that the Montana Human Rights Bureau ruled that Yellowstone County unlawfully denied “gender-affirming health care” to Eleanor Andersen Maloney in 2018. The newspaper reports Maloney was a county prosecutor when she was denied a health insurance request for possible elective surgery, although she was still on a waiting list at the time. The newspaper reports the county also sought the return of payments for Maloney’s therapist. Yellowstone County has 30 days to respond. The case will move to a formal hearing if an agreement is not reached. Calls by the newspaper to the county seeking comment Wednesday were not returned. ___ Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com

http://www.billingsgazette.com,https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/yellowstone-county-discriminated-against-transgender-employee-human-rights-bureau-finds/article_6434ee40-2f34-5393-9d48-67841678d405.html

2true

Access to health care, Health, Discrimination, Montana, Billings

37083

Fruits and vegetables from other countries are being contaminated with blood containing either AIDS or HIV.

March 17, 2015

Were Blood Oranges from Libya Injected with HIV?

Rich Buhler & Staff

A popular rumor about oranges or bananas from outside the United States being injected with HIV- or AIDS-contaminated blood seems to circulate endlessly on social media despite having no basis in reality.This seems to be a spin on the popular (and completely unfounded) “foreigners carry diseases” myth that seems to be part of any immigration backlash.A similar version of the eRumor reports that canned fruit was found to be contaminated with HIV-positive blood.The Truth:Various reports of HIV-positive blood being found in oranges and canned fruit have persisted for years, but there’s no truth to these claims.Even if these accounts were true, it would be nearly impossible to contract HIV from eating an orange that was injected with infected blood before it was shipped over a long distance.HIV is a living virus, and it needs a human host to survive, the nonprofit group Aid for AIDS reports:HIV is a very fragile virus outside of the body. The HIV virus needs the human body as its host. The life span of HIV outside of the body has not been determined. However, we know that HIV needs its host cell (a human), the body temperature, and the chemistry of the blood to survive. Out of the body, HIV is out of its environment. As the blood dries, the HIV will die. In areas like a syringe or on a razor in a medicine cabinet, HIV would probably live longer because of less airflow and it’s a more moist temperature controlled area.“Just remember, outside of the body HIV can’t survive. In minutes it will die and be harmless, but Universal Precautions should always be used.”Social media has lit up with reports that oranges exported from Libya were injected with blood that tested positive for HIV or AIDS. The posts show photos of halved oranges with red coloration inside similar to blood. A caption reads:“The immigration services of Algeria recovered a large quantity of these oranges coming from Libya. These oranges were injected with positive tested HIV and AIDS blood.”The publication Yemen Now used the same photos and reported that the oranges had been injected with hepatitis B and HIV-positive blood. In that version, the oranges were shipped from Egypt into neighboring countries. A translated photo caption reads:Where did the meanness and hostility against Arabs and Muslims by the Zionists and their agents (come from? )In reality, the oranges in the pictures weren’t injected with HIV, AIDS or hepatitis B-positive blood. The photos likely show the inside of an unripe blood orange, or the inside of a blood orange hybrid (no real blood included. )Another variation of the eRumor claims that HIV-positive blood was found inside canned fruit from Thailand, which is also untrue. The Thai government responded directly to the claim and said it was false.This rumor continues to be false regardless which country is named.

https://danitzh.deviantart.com/art/Blood-Orange-unripened-202884699, https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/transmission.html, https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fblood-oranges-from-libya-were-injected-with-hiv-blood%2F, http://yemennow.net/news390100.html, https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Were+Blood+Oranges+from+Libya+Injected+with+HIV%3F&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fblood-oranges-from-libya-were-injected-with-hiv-blood%2F&via=erumors, https://www.truthorfiction.com/brian-kolfage-letter-to-obama/, https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/truthorfiction/, https://www.avert.org/infographics/you-cant-get-hiv-eating-fruit, https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fblood-oranges-from-libya-were-injected-with-hiv-blood%2F, https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/vectors-or-victims-docs-slam-rumors-migrants-carry-disease-n152216, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/, https://www.truthorfiction.com/avian-flu-turkeys/, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/health-medical/, https://www.facebook.com/zambianeye/photos/pb.299559556743493.-2207520000.1424903599./929624847070291/?type=1, https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/20/48/the-basics-of-hiv-prevention, http://www.brudirect.com/national/national/national-headlines/5549-embassy-debunks-rumours-of-hiv-tainted-products, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/politics/, https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fblood-oranges-from-libya-were-injected-with-hiv-blood%2F, https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fblood-oranges-from-libya-were-injected-with-hiv-blood%2F, http://www.afanlv.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89:how-long-does-the-virus-live-outside-the-body&catid=35&Itemid=146, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/

0false

Disinformation, Fact Checks, Health / Medical, Politics, Viral Content

11325

Exercise may be the Rx for RSI

August 7, 2006

This story may leave the reader with the impression that the evidence in support of exercise as a treatment for repetitive motion injuries is more consistently positive than it really is. The lead author of the literature review is quoted as saying that it’s not possible to draw firm conclusions, yet the story depicts exercise as ‘the best medicine’ for these (sometimes) work-related complaints. The evidence for the value of exercise was actually found to be similar to that for the value of ergonomic approaches such as specially designed keyboards. In both cases the authors found conflicting evidence that these strategies help. While the difference in wording (conflicting versus limited evidence) may seem like splitting hairs, limited evidence means that positive outcomes were found in one well-designed trial, or consistently positive findings across multiple trials. On the other hand, conflicting evidence means that outcomes across trials were inconsistent–sometimes positive, sometimes showing no effect at all or perhaps even a negative effect. The story might have done better to highlight how little is actually known about what works for these disorders–particularly in light of how much money is spent to address them. Most of the reviewed studies were poor quality and too small to draw any valid conclusions. While quoting experts who assert that various approaches can help makes for an interesting story, it doesn’t reflect what the available research shows–and so may not be as helpful as the writer may have intended.

The story quotes an expert who states that exercise is ‘cheap’, which is generally true, but can vary depending on the type of exercise. The exercises included in most of the studies examined were taught and supervised by trained individuals, which can increase the cost. The story does not provide any data (either relative or absolute) about the benefits of exercise and other approaches to managing these injuries. This was probably appropriate, because outcomes are defined in different ways depending on the study, but the story author might have explained it. We’ll give the story the benefit of the doubt and grade it satisfactory. The potential harms of exercise in the context of repetitive strain injuries, such as making the injury worse, are not mentioned. The story accurately describes the original article as a review of studies, but it misstates the authors’ conclusions and makes it appear that exercise was far more effective than ergonomic approaches. In the original review, 8 of 14 studies looked at the effects of exercise compared with no treatment, and the authors state that here they found conflicting evidence of the effectiveness of exercise. The story inaccurately states that ‘the majority found positive results.’ Although the authors reported that the evidence for ergonomic adjustments such as special keyboards was also conflicting, the story says that evidence of their efficacy was limited. It should also have stated that most of the 22 studies reviewed were rated as poor quality by the reviewers, and that 103 of the 126 references reviewed were rejected for various reasons. The story states that the direct and indirect costs associated with repetitive strain disorders are as much as $100 billion dollars annually in the U.S. The original article actually estimated these costs at about 1/50 that much, or $2 billion. This exaggeration of impact is a form of disease-mongering. Story quotes the lead author of the review as well as other experts, whose affiliations are provided. The article correctly states that many types of exercise have been studied for repetitive strain injuries. However, rather than “hiking, cycling, walking, swimming and yoga,” as stated in the article, the studies examined generally were investigating the effects of prescribed exercises in a supervised context. The story mentions that exercise in various forms has been studied as a potential therapy for repetitive strain injuries for many years and is not new. The story does not appear to have relied solely or largely on a news release.

2true

40942

Bill Gates’ polio vaccine permanently disabled 47,000 children in India.

June 30, 2020

Cutting back on red and processed meat brings few if any health benefits, according to a review of evidence drawn from millions of people, but the finding contradicts dietary advice of international agencies and has prompted criticism from many experts.

Abbas Panjwani

The researchers who conducted the review said their findings suggest most people can eat red and processed meat at current average intake, typically three or four times a week for adults in North America and Europe, without significant health risks. “Based on the research, we cannot say with any certainty that eating red or processed meat causes cancer, diabetes or heart disease,” said Bradley Johnston, an associate professor at Dalhousie University in Canada who co-led the review published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal. However, in what amounts to a scientific food fight, experts from Harvard, Yale, Stanford and elsewhere, including one of the review authors, said guidelines that could lead people to eat more red and processed meats were irresponsible. They asked in a letter to the journal that it “pre-emptively retract publication” of the papers pending further review. A statement by the Harvard School of Public Health, shared with Reuters by Frank Hu, a doctor and chair of the nutrition department, said: “From a public health point of view, it is irresponsible and unethical to issue dietary guidelines that are tantamount to promoting meat consumption, even if there is still some uncertainty about the strength of the evidence.” The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) both say red and processed meat may or can cause cancer. The WCRF advises eating “little, if any” processed meat and only “moderate amounts” of red meat, such as beef, pork and lamb - with a weekly limit of 500 grams (17.6 ounces) cooked weight. Giota Mitrou, the WCRF’s director of research, said people should not misinterpret the review as saying meat is risk-free. “The public could be put at risk if they interpret this new recommendation to mean we can continue eating as much red and processed meat as they like without increasing their risk of cancer,” she said. “This is not the case.” In the analysis published on Monday, researchers from Canada, Spain and Poland conducted a series of reviews of both randomized controlled trials and observational studies looking at the possible health impact of eating red and processed meat. Among the randomised trials they selected for analysis, which included around 54,000 people, they found no statistically significant link between eating meat and the risk of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. Among the observational studies, which covered millions of people, they did find “a very small reduction in risk” in those who ate three fewer servings of red or processed meat a week, but said this association “was very uncertain.” “Our bottom line recommendation ... is that for the majority of people, but not everyone, continuing their red and processed meat consumption is the best approach,” Johnston said. David Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center at the Yale University School of Medicine, said he had “grave concerns” about the potential of the new review “for damage to public understanding, and public health”. But other experts said the work was a comprehensive, well-conducted analysis of the available evidence on eating meat and human health. “This study will, I hope, help to eliminate the incorrect impression ... that some meat products are as carcinogenic as cigarette smoke, and to discourage dramatic media headlines claiming that ‘bacon is killing us’,” said Ian Johnson, a nutrition expert at Britain’s Quadram Institute of bioscience. Christine Laine, editor in chief of Annals of Internal Medicine, noted that nutrition studies are challenging. “To be honest with our patients and the public, we shouldn’t be making recommendations that sound like they’re based on solid evidence,” she said. “There may be lots of reasons to decrease meat in your diet, but if you’re decreasing it to improve your health, we don’t have a lot of strong evidence to support that.”

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=242905807050968&set=a.103002594374624&type=3&theater, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-health-bmgf/india-cuts-some-funding-ties-with-gates-foundation-on-immunization-idUSKBN15N13K, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-health-bmgf/india-cuts-some-funding-ties-with-gates-foundation-on-immunization-idUSKBN15N13K, https://web.archive.org/web/20200502090716/https:/pib.gov.in/newsite/mbErel.aspx?relid=158277, https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Where-We-Work/India-Office, http://ijme.in/articles/polio-programme-let-us-declare-victory-and-move-on/?galley=html, https://www.gatesfoundation.org/what-we-do/global-development/polio, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/23/facebook-posts/anti-vaxxers-spread-conspiracy-about-bill-gates-an/, https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/8/1755/htm, https://extranet.who.int/polis/public/CaseCount.aspx, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21207601, https://jacob.puliyel.com/download.php?id=357, https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_end_of_polio_in_india, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/acute-flaccid-paralysis-syndrome, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/acute-flaccid-paralysis-syndrome, https://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/poliomyelitis/endgame_objective2/oral_polio_vaccine/VAPPandcVDPVFactSheet-Feb2015.pdf, https://www.facebook.com/help/publisher/182222309230722

0false

online

3894

Arizona schools use therapy dogs to assist mental health.

An Arizona school district is using four-legged therapy counselors as part of a pilot program to help students deal with issues related to mental health, officials said.

The PAWsitive Peers therapy dog program was implemented in five schools in Mesa, The Arizona Republic reports. Students at East Valley Academy, Johnson Elementary School, Kino Junior High School, Rhodes Junior High School, and Mountain View High School interact with dogs in counselors’ offices and classroom visits. School employees volunteer to adopt the dogs that are trained using a curriculum developed at Yale University to create a bond between humans and the animals, officials said. At Mountain View, students visit with a dog named Sawyer while experiencing panic attacks or thoughts of suicide. Sawyer is also brought in when teachers discuss difficult topics such as the Holocaust. Mountain View Counselor Ariel Koch adopted Sawyer in Flagstaff after he was found wandering when he was 8 months old. The dog with black, brown and white hair draws students to Koch’s office who may not have visited before. Students who said they only came to visit Sawyer have discussed issues such as depression or parental divorce, Koch said. “They don’t have to look at me and they don’t have to make it like they came to talk about that, so they can kind of sit and pet him,” Koch said. The Maricopa County Health Department said 29 children ages 11 to 17 died by suicide in 2018, up from 23 the previous year. Two Mountain View students died by suicide in 2019, officials said. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed the Mitch Warnock Act in September. The law expanding suicide prevention and awareness training in public schools is named after a teen who died by suicide in 2016. The idea for the PAWsitive Peers program came after a team of Mesa Public Schools administrators visited schools in New York City using therapy dogs.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa-education/2019/12/23/mesa-public-schools-has-therapy-dogs-help-students-struggling-mental-health-issues/4390771002/

2true

Arizona, Animals, Mental health, Health, General News, Mesa, Education, Dogs

37528

New York City Health (NYC Health) issued official guidelines for sex during a global coronavirus pandemic.

March 23, 2020

Did the NYC Department of Health Issue ‘COVID-19 Sex’ Guidelines?

Kim LaCapria

On March 21 2020, Facebook and Twitter users began sharing purportedly official guidelines for COVID-19 and sex, attributed to the New York City Health Department:the NYC department of health says that during the COVID-19 pandemic “you are your safest sex partner”, so i’m just trying to spread the word pic.twitter.com/oUHIqRKlfY— Tommy Siegel (@TommySiegel) March 23, 2020OMG I had a mouthful of ass while reading this NYC Health guide to Covid-safe Sex and of course, responsible New Yorker that I am, I IMMEDIATELY spat it out. Is there a five second rule? #oneonethousandtwoonethousand pic.twitter.com/QpDmt4hJU0— BD WONG (@wongbd) March 23, 2020Highlights of NYC’s government official guide to having safe sex during these times include:-“wash your hands (and any sex toys)”-Rimming (mouth on anus) might spread COVID-19.”-“You are your safest sex partner.” pic.twitter.com/M0VzSVP75I— chris (@ichrisherrero) March 22, 2020The NYC Health Department’s guide to sex during the COVID-19 outbreak is a gem. https://t.co/pX3nrHzrjv— Sasha Perigo (@sashaperigo) March 21, 2020Facebook’s iterations of the share bore the NYC Health logo, but typically linked to a Google Docs PDF with no clear attribution. That document was unassumingly titled “covid-sex-guidance.pdf,” and it began by urging all New York City residents to stay home in an effort to reduce the spread of highly infectious coronavirus strain COVID-19.Immediately thereafter, it addressed whether it was safe to have sex at all while coronavirus was spreading:Sex and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)All New Yorkers should stay home and minimize contact with others to reduce the spread of COVID-19.But can you have sex? Here are some tips for how to enjoy sex and to avoid spreading COVID-19.1. Know how COVID-19 spreads. • You can get COVID-19 from a person who has it. o The virus can spread to people who are within about 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 when that person coughs or sneezes. o The virus can spread through direct contact with their saliva or mucus. • We still have a lot to learn about COVID-19 and sex. o COVID-19 has been found in feces of people who are infected with the virus. o COVID-19 has not yet been found in semen or vaginal fluid. o We know that other coronaviruses do not efficiently transmit through sex.Amorous New York City residents were first advised to understand how coronavirus COVID-19 spreads, and detailed how as of March 2020 — still in the first weeks of a global pandemic — comparatively little is still known about about SARS-nCoV-2. In the document’s second point, it went on to provide perhaps the most discussed of all the advice on the page (emphasis ours):2. Have sex with people close to you. • You are your safest sex partner. Masturbation will not spread COVID-19, especially if you wash your hands (and any sex toys) with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after sex. • The next safest partner is someone you live with. Having close contact — including sex — with only a small circle of people helps prevent spreading COVID-19. • You should avoid close contact — including sex — with anyone outside your household. If you do have sex with others, have as few partners as possible and avoid group sex. • If you usually meet your sex partners online or make a living by having sex, consider taking a break from in-person dates. Video dates, sexting or chat rooms may be options for you.City residents were, to put it bluntly, advised to stay home and masturbate. However, if that wasn’t sufficiently stimulating, household members were deemed the safest option with whom to have sex.Group sex was, perhaps predictably, not recommended during the pandemic.While Facebook shares linked to a Google Docs page, tweets about the NYC guidelines for safe sex and COVID-19 tended to be in screenshot form. It was uncommon to see anything with a direct link back to an official, verified NYC.gov account. We checked the official NYC Department of Health Facebook page and did not see the COVID-19 sex guidelines shared there.Twitter was another story, though:Soooo …Since we’re all staying home, you might be wondering what to do with all that extra time. We got you, NYC. 😘Read our guide on how to enjoy sex and avoid spreading #COVID19: https://t.co/fjjkfGgf3C— nycHealthy – STAY HOME NYC (@nycHealthy) March 22, 2020In addition to a link to a NYC.gov page, the tweet read:Soooo …Since we’re all staying home, you might be wondering what to do with all that extra time. We got you, NYC. 😘Read our guide on how to enjoy sex and avoid spreading #COVID19: https://on.nyc.gov/3agKh8ULinked was the same circulating document [PDF], with “covid-sex-guidance.pdf” and “Sex and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” as titles. The officially issued guidance matched the aforementioned screengrabs and documents, right down to “you are your safest sex partner” and “masturbation will not spread COVID-19.” The circulating document is authentic — despite the fact it s spreading primarily via screenshots or an unattributed Google Docs page.

https://t.co/fjjkfGgf3C, https://twitter.com/ichrisherrero/status/1241609026581827585, https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-the-nyc-department-of-health-issue-covid-19-sex-guidelines%2F, https://t.co/oUHIqRKlfY, https://www.truthorfiction.com/coronavirus-spanish-army-uniform/, https://twitter.com/wongbd/status/1241943043487514624, https://twitter.com/hashtag/oneonethousandtwoonethousand?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://t.co/QpDmt4hJU0, https://twitter.com/ichrisherrero/status/1241609026581827585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-the-nyc-department-of-health-issue-covid-19-sex-guidelines%2F, https://twitter.com/chrissyford/status/1241341554742214656, https://twitter.com/sashaperigo/status/1241470175926317056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hywBJAwqXbGtseLjF2dCWx4XPnV1VgP4/view, https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-sex-guidance.pdf, https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-the-nyc-department-of-health-issue-covid-19-sex-guidelines%2F, https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/, https://twitter.com/nycHealthy/status/1241722574763175941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://t.co/pX3nrHzrjv, https://twitter.com/sashaperigo/status/1241470175926317056, https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-the-nyc-department-of-health-issue-covid-19-sex-guidelines%2F, https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://t.co/M0VzSVP75I, https://twitter.com/wongbd/status/1241943043487514624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://twitter.com/TommySiegel/status/1242103683954946050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://www.truthorfiction.com/did-belgiums-health-minister-ban-non-essential-sexual-activities-of-three-or-more-due-to-coronavirus-concerns/, https://twitter.com/nycHealthy/status/1241722574763175941, https://twitter.com/TommySiegel/status/1242103683954946050, https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Did+the+NYC+Department+of+Health+Issue+%27COVID-19+Sex%27+Guidelines%3F&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-the-nyc-department-of-health-issue-covid-19-sex-guidelines%2F&via=KimLaCapria, https://www.facebook.com/nychealth, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/

2true

Fact Checks, Viral Content

28577

Researchers in Cuba have discovered a cancer vaccine that is already saving thousands of people.

July 27, 2017

"What's true: Researchers with Cuba’s Center for Molecular Immunology have developed and approved an immunologic cancer therapy that improves survivability for certain types of cancers in some cases; as of January 2017, the drug has begun clinical trials for the treatment in the United States. What's false: While the drug is not a vaccine in the preventative sense, it has improved survivability in some cases; however, claims that it has cured thousands of people conflates the total number of people who have been treated with those who have been ""cured""."

Alex Kasprak

On 7 July 2017, TheNativePeople.net published a story reporting that Cuba has been evidently sitting on a cancer vaccine that has already cured thousands of people. In the article, which has since been shared thousands of times, the author writes: There are many scientists who have dedicated their life in the search for the cure, and there are many promising natural alternatives that can replace chemotherapy and radiation in the future. The latest example is a research from Cuba, where a small group of scientists with a limited budget have been able to develop a vaccine against cancer that has cured more than 4000 people! The scientific community is impressed by the Cuban discovery, and many doctors claim that the cure for cancer has finally been found! The vaccine has produced incredible results even in the more advanced stages of cancer. It finally saw the light of day after 16 years of intense research, and doesn’t have any adverse side-effects. The treatment this story highlights does indeed exist in Cuba. It’s a therapy (named CIMAvax) used to treat lung cancer, and which has begun being used in clinical trials in the United States. The treatment, contrary to the suggestion of the headline, is not meant to prevent the future occurrence of disease like a traditional vaccine. Vaccine, in this case, refers to the fact that CIMAvax provokes an immune response — as with a vaccine — which then signals a person’s own immune system to attack the cancer’s ability to grow (as opposed to inoculating against future outbreaks). As described in a November 2016 feature in The Atlantic: [Cuban researchers used an] unusually powerful meningitis protein and fused it to part of another protein called epidermal growth factor, or EGF. EGF is important for controlling cancer because, as its name implies, EGF makes cells grow, and cancer is essentially cells growing out of control. When injected, this fused hybrid protein kicks a patient’s immune system into high gear (thanks to the meningitis) and targets cancer cells (thanks to the EGF). That’s how CIMAvax is supposed to work. It’s called a vaccine because like other vaccines, it stimulates the immune system, but it is actually used to treat rather than prevent lung cancer. The drug, which was originally developed by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health in the 1990s, has undergone several animal and human clinical trials in Cuba, and is currently licensed there for stage IIIB/IV non-small-cell lung cancer. The most recent Cuban trial, a phase III study of 405 individuals with this kind of lung cancer, concluded: Patients receiving at least 4 doses of the vaccine […] had a significant advantage in overall survival. Patients with high [concentrations of EGF in their system] had the largest benefit and [median survival time] after vaccination was 14.66 months. While these results are promising, claims that “thousands” have been “cured” of cancer as a result of this drug are unsupported by published research, and appear to stem from reports that 5000 people have been treated with the drug since 2011. Indeed, improvements to survival were generally on the order of months, and around 20 percent of cases from these clinical trials showed no improvement compared to control groups. Due to regulations stemming from the United States embargo on Cuban goods, the drug has been unexplored in the United States until fairly recently. In late 2016, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York received approval to embark on a collaboration with Cuban researchers to bring CIMAvax clinical trials to the U.S., capping a lengthy process to get approval from the Obama Administration that began in 2011. In addition to Cuba, CIMAvax has been used in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru. Michael Caligiuri of the American Association for Cancer Research told PBS Newshour that success in Cuba does not necessarily mean the drug will be met with similar success in the United States: Whenever there’s an early evidence of efficacy in a single population, a single institution study, the chance that it will be replicated inter-institutionally is real, but not a given. The U.S. trials began in January 2017, and researchers are currently recruiting participants. If the drug’s efficacy is demonstrated by the standards of the U.S. Food and Drug administration, Roswell Park Cancer Institute scientist Kevin Lee says it could potentially change the way in which doctors approach cancer treatment by targeting not the cancer itself, but by changing a body’s ability to contain a cancer that it was previously unable to combat: There is an idea that’s developing of converting cancer into a chronic disease. We give you a pill that you take every day, and it allows you to live a perfectly normal life. While the drug is real and has shown promise against a specific kind of lung cancer, claims that it is a blanket “cure” for all of cancer overstate both the scope of the drug and the nature of its clinical success.

1mixture

Medical, cancer, cuba, healthcare

7404

Ultra-personal therapy: Gene tumor boards guide cancer care.

Doctors were just guessing a decade ago when they gave Alison Cairnes’ husband a new drug they hoped would shrink his lung tumors. Now she takes it, but the choice was no guesswork. Sophisticated gene tests suggested it would fight her gastric cancer, and they were right.

Marilynn Marchione

Cancer patients increasingly are having their care guided by gene tumor boards, a new version of the hospital panels that traditionally decided whether surgery, radiation or chemotherapy would be best. These experts study the patient’s cancer genes and match treatments to mutations that seem to drive the disease. “We dissect the patient’s tumor with what I call the molecular microscope,” said Dr. Razelle Kurzrock, who started a board at the University of California, San Diego, where Cairnes is treated. It’s the kind of care many experts say we should aim for — precision medicine, the right drug for the right person at the right time, guided by genes. There are success stories, but also some failures and many questions: Will gene-guided care improve survival? Does it save money or cost more? What kind of gene testing is best, and who should get it? “I think every patient needs it,” especially if cancer is advanced, said Kurzrock, who consults for some gene-medicine companies. “Most people don’t agree with me — yet. In five years, it may be malpractice not to do genomics.” Few people get precision medicine today, said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Translational Science Institute. “The only thing that’s gone mainstream are the words.” HOW IT WORKS NOW If you have a cancer that might be susceptible to a gene-targeting drug, you may be tested for mutations in that gene, such as HER2 for breast cancer. Some breast or prostate cancer patients also might get a multi-gene test to gauge how aggressive treatment should be. Then most patients get usual guideline-based treatments. If there’s no clear choice, or if the disease has spread or comes back, doctors may suggest tumor profiling — comprehensive tests to see what mutations dominate. That’s traditionally been done from a tissue sample, but newer tests that detect tumor DNA in blood — liquid biopsies — are making profiling more common. The tests cost about $6,000 and many insurers consider them experimental and won’t pay. Gene tumor boards analyze what the results suggest about treatment. They focus on oddball cases like a breast cancer mutation in a colon cancer patient, or cancers that have widely spread and are genetically complex. The only options may be experimental drugs or “off-label” treatments — medicines approved for different situations. But as tumor profiling grows, it’s revealing how genetically diverse many tumors are, and that oddball cases are not so rare, said Dr. John Marshall. He heads the virtual tumor board at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center that also serves cancer centers in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan and Tennessee. “There is a little bit of faith” that testing will show the right treatment, but it’s not a sure thing, said Dr. Lee Schwartzberg, who heads one participating center, the West Cancer Center in Memphis. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society’s deputy chief medical officer, is optimistic yet wary. Drugs that target BRAF mutations work well for skin cancers called melanomas, but less well for lung or colon cancers. “Just because a mutation occurs it doesn’t mean that drug is going to work in that cancer,” he said. LUCKY CASES When it does, results can be dramatic. Cairnes’ cancer was between her stomach and esophagus, and had spread to her liver, lungs and lymph nodes. Tissue testing found 10 abnormal genes, but on the liquid biopsy only EGFR popped out as a good target. Two drugs aim at that gene but aren’t approved for her type of cancer. A tumor board advised trying both — Erbitux and Tarceva, the drug her husband also had taken. Within two weeks, she quit using pain medicines. After two months, her liver tumor had shrunk roughly by half. There are signs that cancer may remain, but it is under control. She feels well enough to travel and to take care of her granddaughter. “I’m very, very grateful to have a targeted therapy,” Cairnes said. “I cannot expect a better outcome than what we’re seeing right now,” said her doctor, Shumei Kato. WHAT STUDIES SHOW But is gene-guided treatment better than usual care? French doctors did the first big test, with disappointing results. About 200 patients with advanced cancer were given whatever their doctors thought best or off-label drugs based on tumor profiling. Survival was similar — about two months. Another French study, reported in June, was slightly more encouraging on survival but exposed another problem: No drugs exist for many gene flaws. Tests found treatable mutations in half of the 2,000 participants and only 143 got what a tumor board suggested. Some doctors worry that tumor boards’ recommending off-label treatments diverts patients from research that would benefit all cancer patients. For example, the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s TAPUR study tests off-label drugs and shares results with their makers and federal regulators. LETTING PATIENTS CHOOSE Ann Meffert, who lives on a dairy farm in Waunakee, Wisconsin, endured multiple standard treatments that didn’t defeat her bile duct cancer. “She was going to be referred to hospice; there was not much we could do,” said Dr. Nataliya Uboha, who took the case to a tumor board at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The panel gave several options, including off-label treatment, and Meffert chose a study that matches patients to gene-targeting therapies and started on an experimental one last October. “Two weeks in, I started feeling better,” she said, and when she saw test results, “I couldn’t believe the difference.” Many lung spots disappeared and the liver tumor shrank 75 percent. She is not cured, though, and doctors are thinking about next steps. And that could involve a fresh look at her tumor genes. ___ Marilynn Marchione can be followed at @MMarchioneAP __ This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02465060,http://www.tapur.org,/tag/GeneticFrontiers,https://www.ap.org/press-releases/2017/ap-and-howard-hughes-medical-institute-collaborate-to-enhance-science-journalism,http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

2true

AP Top News, San Diego, International News, Tumors, Genetic Frontiers, North America, Health, Business, California, Cancer, U.S. News, Science

16045

When Disney was looking to build Disney World, they came to Miami and we told Disney to take a hike.

January 9, 2015

"Moss said, ""When Disney was looking to build Disney World, they came to Miami and we told Disney to take a hike."" At PolitiFact we believe that politicians need to back up their claims, and in this case Moss said he doesn’t have a documented source. The account by Capp that former Mayor Clark told him in the 1980s that this happened decades before doesn’t provide first-hand evidence. And it’s the only piece of evidence we found in favor of Moss’s point. The historians we interviewed said they had never seen evidence to support the claim that Disney considered Miami-Dade for Disney World. If we later find evidence that shows Disney considered Miami-Dade for Disney World, we will revisit this fact-check, but so far Moss has failed to prove his claim."

Amy Sherman

"A battle over whether to turn a swath of trees near the Zoo Miami into an amusement park has touched off a debate about whether Disney decades ago wanted to build in Miami-Dade and whether county officials told Disney ""to take a hike."" County commissioners will consider declaring the area blighted at a March 3 hearing which could pave the way for developers to build a $930 million 20th Century Fox amusement park. Environmentalists vow to fight the plan. County Commissioner Dennis Moss, who has advocated for an amusement park in his district, told the Miami Herald that the land had been planned for redevelopment for years. And he says the county shouldn’t miss another opportunity to have an amusement park. ""When Disney was looking to build Disney World, they came to Miami and we told Disney to take a hike, and they took a hike to Central Florida. You see the economic impact they had on Central Florida. We have a chance to do that with 20th Century Fox in our community,"" he said in a Dec. 19 article. His claim set off a flurry of letters to the editor by readers who debated whether Disney World  considered Miami-Dade as a site and if local officials rejected it. Here’s one from prominent South Florida attorney Ben Kuehne: ""I wonder who were the unidentified officials in then-Dade County who told Disney to ‘take a hike,’ when Disney does not seem to have ever expressed an interest in South Florida as a potential location for its Disney World attraction. To the contrary, official Disney history is that Disney particularly chose Central Florida in order to not compete with existing tourism areas on the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. Is Moss trying to pull a fast one on the Miami-Dade residents in his haste to pursue a massive theme park development in his district, contending that we lost a nonexistent opportunity once and cannot afford to do so 50 years later?"" But then Larry Capp, former executive director of the governmental entity Metro-Miami Action Plan during the 1980s, wrote a letter saying that Moss is correct. Capp’s information is based on conversations he had with the late County Mayor Stephen R. Clark in the 1980s. Clark ""never deviated from his account that Disney wanted to come to Miami,"" Capp wrote. But the negotiations with the county commission fell apart when Disney demanded that the county pay for infrastructure, Capp wrote. He added that Disney had already acquired large parcels in the county in the area that is now Trump National Doral. (Clark, who has since died, was first elected to the Miami city commission in 1963 and later became county mayor.) Time to pull out PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter: Did Disney consider Miami-Dade and did county officials tell Disney to go take a hike? Take a wild ride with us as we try to separate the lore from the truth about the twists and turns in the development of Disney World. Moss uncertain of his source Moss, who was first elected in 1993, told PolitiFact Florida that he couldn’t recall any specific source for his claim. ""I don’t have anything in writing,"" he said. But Moss pointed to Capp’s letter as ""witness testimony."" While it is certainly possible that during the 1980s Clark told Capp this information about Disney from decades ago, that’s not indisputable evidence in our book. County officials were unable to pinpoint any specific evidence to support Moss’ claim. Moss acknowledged it could be difficult to prove exactly what happened. ""Disney is about fairy tales and storybook endings, so who knows what transpired back in the 1950s?"" Historians on the alleged Miami-Dade option At PolitiFact we prefer history books to story books, so we interviewed several authors and historians who extensively researched the development of Disney World. None of them found evidence that Disney considered Miami-Dade. Disney hired leisure-time economics analyst Harrison ""Buzz"" Price to research Disney World locations. Price looked at several states and locations in Florida, but the closest one to Miami-Dade was in Palm Beach County, which Disney ultimately rejected. Price wrote in his book ""Walt’s Revolution by the Numbers"" about how Disney ultimately chose Orlando. ""In 1961, after rejecting some other alternatives, Walt asked us to look at the rest of Florida and figure out where the park should be. Late in 1963, we studied in depth a location in Central Florida. The key conclusion was that central Florida (not Miami as most people expected it would be) was the main point of maximum intersection of Florida tourism, and that Orlando, centrally located, what's the point of maximum access to the southerly flow of Florida tourism from both the east and west shores of the state…"" (Price has since died.) Disney announced the Orlando project in 1965, and the park opened in 1971. There were, however, Miami connections. When Disney acquired land in the Orlando area, Disney set up dummy corporations in Miami to hide that it was acquiring the property, said Disney Family Museum historian Paula Sigman Lowery. Disney was secretive about his plans as he was buying land because he didn’t want prices to skyrocket. Disney used Miami lawyer Paul Helliwell, who as a CIA agent had relocated to Miami in 1960 to carry out actions against Castro. Helliwell came up with the approach to create essentially fake cities for Disney World, wrote author T.D. Allman in Finding Florida. Five authors of books about Disney -- Rollins College professor Richard Foglesong, T.D. Allman, Sam Gennawey, Jim Korkis and Chad Emerson -- all told PolitiFact Florida that during their research they found no evidence that Disney considered Miami-Dade. ""I say this from having extensively researched the Disney land-purchase story, based on research at the Disney archives in Burbank and a close reading of legal documents involving depositions of key Disney players as reported in a book published by Yale University Press and fact-checked to the smallest detail,"" Foglesong told PolitiFact Florida in an email. Foglesong added, ""I can’t say that it’s not true, I can only say I did not find evidence to that claim."" Experts told us that Disney did not want to build near the beach which would compete with his amusement park. But Korkis said that there are gaps in historical records which are based in part on oral history. ""The Disney Archives was not created until 1970, and it stumbled for a decade trying to locate and organize papers, and even today there are huge gaps. When it comes to Disney history, there are things that the Imagineers refer to as ‘logical erroneous conclusions,’ things that sound reasonable but are completely wrong,"" he said. ""Often, people sincerely believe something is true."" Miami Herald researcher Monika Leal looked through two boxes of news clips from the newspaper in the 1960s about Disney World and found no reference to Disney considering Miami-Dade County. But wait a second .... There was a time when Miami politicians talked to Disney executives about building some type of attraction in the county, but it wasn’t Disney World, says Maurice Ferre, who was mayor of Miami from 1973 to 1985 The Miami Herald wrote multiple articles about Ferre’s push to bring an amusement park to Watson Island. Disney executives toured the Watson Island site in 1984, but in 1985, the Miami Herald reported that Disney rejected the idea. ""What I wanted was to develop on Watson Island a mini-Disney park,"" Ferre told PolitiFact Florida. We asked Moss and Capp if the lore about Disney and Miami-Dade could be related to Watson Island in the 1980s, rather than the actual Disney World project in the 1960s. Moss said he wasn’t aware of the Watson Island project, however ,""What I heard was in reference to Disney World."" ""Gosh I really don’t know,"" Capp said. Mayor Clark ""never mentioned Watson Island or anything downtown or the waterfront. He strictly said the Doral area. .... This is becoming quite a mystery."" Our ruling Moss said, ""When Disney was looking to build Disney World, they came to Miami and we told Disney to take a hike."" At PolitiFact we believe that politicians need to back up their claims, and in this case Moss said he doesn’t have a documented source. The account by Capp that former Mayor Clark told him in the 1980s that this happened decades before doesn’t provide first-hand evidence. And it’s the only piece of evidence we found in favor of Moss’s point. The historians we interviewed said they had never seen evidence to support the claim that Disney considered Miami-Dade for Disney World. If we later find evidence that shows Disney considered Miami-Dade for Disney World, we will revisit this fact-check, but so far Moss has failed to prove his claim, so"

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-11-21/news/os-ed-disney-property-anniversary-112113-20131120_1_walt-disney-ocala-niagara-falls, http://www.disneyhistoryinstitute.com/, https://www.amazon.com/The-Revised-Vault-Walt-Unauthorized-ebook/dp/B00AJA95DE, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18114522-the-disneyland-story, http://www.unf.edu/uploadedFiles/aa/coas/english/td%20allman%20bio.pdf, https://www.amazon.com/Married-Mouse-Disney-World-Orlando/dp/0300098286, http://wdwnews.com/releases/2011/07/19/walt-disney-world-resort-world-history-digest/, http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article5265366.html, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/travel/county-wasnt-big-enough-for-both-walt-disney-joh-1/nLzpQ/, http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article4696344.html, http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201307/3580/, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/14/how-the-cia-helped-disney-conquer-florida.html, http://www.wdwmagic.com/walt-disney-world-history.htm, http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article5516916.html

0false

County Government, History, Recreation, Florida, Dennis Moss,

7015

With rare candor, Lovato chronicled her recovery and relapse.

While most celebrities tend to hide their struggles with drugs and battles with depression, Demi Lovato not only acknowledged her issues, she’s shared them with the world.

Mesfin Fekadu

Lovato has been an open book since she announced in 2010 that she was checking into a rehabilitation center to deal with an eating disorder, self-mutilation and other issues. Over the next eight years, she became a role model and bona fide pop star, releasing multi-platinum songs and albums that range from playful to serious with lyrical content about her battles with drugs and alcohol. ″(She) has found enormous success by addressing those issues, and not only addressing them when they were still fresh, but also continuing to speak about them as she had been sober for years. She’s always kind of keeping it at the forefront ... and showing people that it’s OK to be open about having struggles whether it’s mental health issues, substance abuse (or) body positivity,” said Jason Lipshutz, the editorial director at Billboard. “By opening herself up and sharing herself she has given the signal to a lot of people — either young listeners or adult listeners — that they can do the same.” “Obviously she’s got an amazing voice and she’s got some great hooks and a lot of hit singles, but I think people really connect with that type of openness,” he added. Lovato’s representative said in a statement Tuesday that the 25-year-old was awake and recovering with her family after the singer was reportedly hospitalized for an overdose. It came a month after she released a new song called “Sober,” indicating that she relapsed after six years of sobriety. Lovato has chronicled her life and battles throughout the years, from her bisexuality to being bullied as a child to suffering from depression. She has said she’s used cocaine before interviews and drank alcohol in the morning out of a soda bottle to mask it. That candor has helped her become a role model for young women and men who have faced their own issues. Actress Lili Reinhart, who appears in the hit CW Network series “Riverdale,” said she looked up to Lovato. “When I was 14, she was an idol to me in how she spoke so openly about mental health. And now she continues to inspire thousands of young men and women with her body positivity messages,” the 21-year-old tweeted Tuesday. In her YouTube documentary, “Demi Lovato, Simply Complicated,” Lovato said at one point she idolized Amy Winehouse, whose seven-year death anniversary was Monday. “I wanted to be as thin as her,” Lovato said in the film, released last year. “I wanted to sing like her. I wanted to be just like her.” The last two years have been Lovato’s biggest in music: “Sorry Not Sorry,” the sassy, punchy pop song, became the entertainer’s biggest hit of her career, peaking at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and reaching triple-platinum status. Her “Confident” album competed for best pop vocal album at the 2017 Grammys (she lost to Adele’s “25”). Lovato earned praise and more hit songs for her collaborations with the electronic music groups Cheat Codes and Clean Bandit. And she’s even expanded to the Latin market with the Luis Fonsi collaboration “Echama la Culpa” and the Spanish version of “Solo” (Lovato is of Mexican descent). But her latest release, “Sober,” was concerning since Lovato had said she was clean for six years. “I’m not sober anymore,” she sings. “I’m sorry that I’m here again, I promise I’ll get help/It wasn’t my intention, I’m sorry to myself.” “We should wrap our arms of love around Demi Lovato. I am so happy you’re alive. Thank God,” Lady Gaga tweeted. “If I know my monsters as well as I believe I do, we all wish you self-compassion and inner peace. And may you receive the love so many have for you.” Lovato started as a child star on the series “Barney & Friends,” later breaking through as a teen on the Disney Channel film “Camp Rock” and the network series “Sonny with a Chance.” She did not return for the third season of “Sonny” after checking into rehab in 2010, also leaving an international tour with the Jonas Brothers. She emerged with the album “Unbroken” in 2011, detailing her recovery in the ballad “Skyscraper.” More songs like that followed as Lovato toured the world and reached new heights on the pop charts. There was a worldwide outpouring of support for Lovato as the hashtags #PrayForDemi and #StayStrongDemi trended heavily on social media and everyone from Bruno Mars to Ariana Grande to Ellen DeGeneres to Justin Timberlake rooted for Lovato’s recovery. “I think everybody just wants her to be OK and there’s no feeling that I can perceive of (people saying), ‘How dare she?’ or anything like that,” Lipshutz said. “People are understandably concerned and I think that no matter what happens next people are going to be supportive of her.”

2true

Mental health, Health, Entertainment, North America, Demi Lovato, Depression

4714

Company to pay $245M toward cleanup of Kalamazoo River PCBs.

One of the companies responsible for polluting an 80-mile (129-kilometer) stretch of river and floodplains in southwestern Michigan with toxic chemicals will pay at least $245.2 million to advance a cleanup effort that began more than 20 years ago, federal officials said Wednesday.

John Flesher

NCR Corp. will fund the dredging of contaminated sediments and removal of an aging dam in the Kalamazoo River under an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Michigan, officials told The Associated Press ahead of an official announcement. “This is a big step forward toward cleaning up the river,” said John Irving, a deputy assistant administrator in the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. The Kalamazoo is polluted with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, from paper recycling mills. Used for ink removal, the chemicals were discharged into the river from the 1950s through the mid-1970s. They also seeped into groundwater and surface waters from landfills where mill waste was dumped. In addition to the river, the contamination zone in Allegan and Kalamazoo counties includes a roughly 3-mile (5-kilometer) section of a tributary called Portage Creek, as well as mill properties, riverbanks and floodplains. It is on the federal Superfund list of hazardous sites. Signs posted along the river warn anglers not to eat the fish they catch. The EPA has overseen the removal of nearly 450,000 cubic yards (344,000 cubic meters) of soil and sediment from the area since 1998, in addition to cleaning up 7 miles (11 kilometers) of the river and riverbanks. Eighty-two acres (33 hectares) of landfills containing PCBs have been covered with layers of clay, topsoil and vegetation to prevent the toxins from leaching into groundwater. But much remains to be done. The agreement between NCR and the government calls for the company to pay at least $135.7 million for cleanup work that is expected to take an additional 10-15 years. Among the tasks: dismantling Trowbridge Dam in Allegan County. The dam, which was built in 1898 to supply electric power to Kalamazoo, is in poor shape and has been over-topped by high water. It is the highest-priority dam removal planned in Michigan, according to the state Department of Natural Resources, which set aside $2.9 million in May to get the project underway. The first step is to stabilize the structure so that it won’t collapse while a contractor dredges PCB-laced sediments from a 2.4-mile (3.9-kilometer) river section upstream, which is expected to take three years, said Paul Ruesch, the EPA’s on-site coordinator. NCR funds will pay for that work and for razing the dam when the sediment removal is complete, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark told the AP. “You want to get that sediment out before taking the dam out, so you’re not letting the sediments wash further downstream,” he said. The removal of tainted soils in several floodplain spots is also funded under the deal. And the company will also pay $76.5 million to the EPA to cover past and future costs of the river cleanup; $27 million to other federal and state agencies for damages to natural resources; and $6 million to the state for past and future costs. The proposed settlement was filed in federal court Wednesday. The public will get 30 days to comment, after which the government agencies could make revisions before requesting final court approval. NCR spokesman Scott Sykes said the company had no comment. The agreement represents a significant milestone in the overall cleanup, which is expected to end up costing about $851 million, Clark said. Payment negotiations are continuing with other companies that share responsibility for the pollution, including Georgia-Pacific, International Paper and Weyerhaeuser. The Kalamazoo River project is among those on the Superfund list designated by the Trump administration for special attention because of cleanup delays, Irving said. “This settlement represents substantial progress in the cleanup and restoration of the Kalamazoo River,” said Liesl Clark, Director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. In addition to protecting public health and the environment, she said, it will fund “projects to restore natural resources and help compensate the public for lost recreational opportunities within this important Southwest Michigan watershed.” While “extremely welcome,” the deal won’t raise enough money to finish the cleanup and agencies should continue pressing the polluters to do more, said Kenneth Kornheiser, president of the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council, a nonprofit advocacy group. “I appreciate the monumental size of the problem, but somebody created the problem and needs to be responsible for remediating the damage,” he said. ___ Follow John Flesher on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnflesher

https://twitter.com/johnflesher

2true

Kalamazoo, U.S. News, John Irving, Dams, Michigan, Environment, Dredging, U.S. News, General News, Traverse City

14347

"Bernie Sanders Says Bernie Sanders ""fundamentally changed the lives"" of Immokalee farm workers in Florida for the better."

April 5, 2016

"Sanders’ ad says he ""fundamentally changed the lives"" of Immokalee farm workers in Florida. Sanders helped give national publicity to the struggles of Immokalee tomato pickers in 2008. He visited with the workers, wrote letters to tomato purchasers urging them to join a program to pay workers more, met with a representative from the growers exchange and held a Senate hearing in 2008. About two years later, the workers reached an agreement with the growers. The coalition and the growers’ exchange both say Sanders should get some credit, although it’s likely that the agreement could have been reached without his efforts. Whether the agreement ""fundamentally changed the lives"" of the workers is difficult to quantify. The agreement included an increase for purchasers which goes toward pickers, but it’s unclear on average how many dollars more each picker earns per week as a result of it. There have been other successes in the agreement, including the resolution of worker complaints."

Amy Sherman

"Bernie Sanders says he successfully changed the lives of exploited tomato workers in Florida. In an ad for Sanders, which ran nationally on Univision, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., praises Sanders for taking up the plight of Immokalee tomato workers. ""He went and visited personally. Then he came back and convinced Ted Kennedy to hold some hearings, and it fundamentally changed the lives of those workers."" There is no dispute that Sanders, a Vermont senator, was a passionate defender of the tomato workers from Central Florida in 2008. A coalition representing those workers successfully reached an agreement with the growers about two years later to improve pay and working conditions. But how much credit does Sanders get, and has the agreement ""fundamentally changed"" the workers’ lives? Sanders’ advocacy on behalf of Immokalee farm workers in 2008 In 2008, Sanders traveled to meet with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which represented thousands of tomato workers. ""The conditions here are a disaster. People are being exploited ruthlessly,"" Sanders said. Since the coalition couldn’t reach an agreement with the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange directly, it negotiated with purchasers of tomatoes, asking them to pay a penny-per-pound increase. Yum Brands -- parent of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC -- signed on in 2005, and McDonald’s in 2007, and more would later follow. Sanders, along with a few other senators, sent letters to food chains and grocery stores urging them to join the campaign, said Warren Gunnels, a spokesman for Sanders’ presidential campaign. Sanders also met with a representative of the growers’ exchange. On March 13, 2008, Sanders held a press conference on the U.S. Capitol grounds to support a nationwide petition drive on behalf of farm workers. He invited the coalition to testify before a Senate committee in April 2008. ""In the United States of America, millions of workers are being forced into a race to the bottom,"" Sanders testified. ""What we have in the tomato fields of Florida are workers who are living on the lowest rung of the ladder in that race to the bottom."" About two and a half years after the hearing -- in November 2010 -- the coalition and the growers’ exchange reached an agreement. It included the penny-per-pound premium and other steps intended to improve working conditions, such as a system to resolve complaints about sexual abuse as well as a health and safety program. Those involved in the process say Sanders should get some credit for the publicity. The agreement ""probably would have occurred anyway at some point, but we think it is fair to say that Sen. Sanders’ efforts accelerated the process,"" coalition spokesman Steve Hitov told PolitiFact Florida. Reggie Brown, a vice president with the growers’ exchange who met with Sanders in 2008, said, ""I think he can be fairly given some credit for having had a role."" Giev Kashkooli, political and legislative director at United Farm Workers of America, a group which endorsed Hillary Clinton, says that ""it's likely that (Sanders') visit and subsequent work did bring attention to farm workers in Immokalee who deserved support."" Impact of agreement There is evidence that the agreement between the coalition and the growers has led to some improvements for workers, but there are differences of opinion about the extent of those improvements. According to the coalition’s most recent annual report, since 2011 the agreement has resulted in nearly $20 million in premiums paid by buyers. Other gains include efforts to reduce sexual assault, the creation of health and safety committees, and resolution of more than 1,000 worker complaints. ""The Fair Food Program has brought about unprecedented levels of compliance with human rights standards in the fields,"" said Laura Safer Espinoza, a retired New York Supreme Court justice who serves as the executive director of the Fair Food Standards Council, which monitors the agreement and audits the growers. The average bucket rate has increased from 40 cents before the agreement to 55 to 65 cents today. But we found no independent research about what that translates to on average per worker, although the coalition cites a range of $30 to $60 per week. Pay is variable due to changing crop conditions and other factors. Greg Schell, an attorney with the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, has raised some criticisms of the program. He has sued fast food chains on behalf of pickers who he said didn’t get the premium. Since only some purchasers of Florida tomatoes have agreed to pay the premium, not all of the tomatoes a worker picks will include the premium. ""The short answer is that the hearings changed nothing whatsoever in Immokalee,"" he said. ""The hearings did provide a national forum for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which has for the past 20 years pressed for higher wages for the tomato workers. However, despite immense publicity for its efforts, the coalition’s efforts have resulted in very minimal wage increases to the workers."" Schell sent us a pay stub of a worker showing the premium was only $1.21 one week while the coalition sent us a pay stub showing $101.06 for another worker. Both are extremes, says coalition attorney Steve Hitov. A reporter from the Naples Daily News described the tough lives of tomato workers in an article in March. She said ""they earn $10 an hour, and that the salaries have changed only a few cents an hour in the past five years."" Workers barely earn enough to support their families and live together in trailers. There is no dispute that picking tomatoes remains a tough job, but ""there is no comparison between what existed before and what exists now,"" says Janice Fine, a labor professor at Rutgers, who has interviewed the workers and has met with the coalition and the growers. ""In my interviews with farmworkers, they talk about a radical transformation in their work lives,"" she told PolitiFact Florida. Our ruling Sanders’ ad says he ""fundamentally changed the lives"" of Immokalee farm workers in Florida. Sanders helped give national publicity to the struggles of Immokalee tomato pickers in 2008. He visited with the workers, wrote letters to tomato purchasers urging them to join a program to pay workers more, met with a representative from the growers exchange and held a Senate hearing in 2008. About two years later, the workers reached an agreement with the growers. The coalition and the growers’ exchange both say Sanders should get some credit, although it’s likely that the agreement could have been reached without his efforts. Whether the agreement ""fundamentally changed the lives"" of the workers is difficult to quantify. The agreement included an increase for purchasers which goes toward pickers, but it’s unclear on average how many dollars more each picker earns per week as a result of it. There have been other successes in the agreement, including the resolution of worker complaints."

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/a-florida-farm-countys-high-rape-rate-highlights-risks-for-migrant-workers-7575170, http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/the-race-to-the-bottom, http://www.ciw-online.org/blog/2008/09/sen_sanders_on_slavery_verdict/, http://www.ciw-online.org/blog/2013/06/pbs-frontline-fair-food-program/, http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/the-harvest-of-shame, http://www.ciw-online.org/blog/2008/04/senate_hearing/, https://www.splcenter.org/news/2008/04/15/migrant-tomato-workers-face-chronic-abuses, http://www.ciw-online.org/blog/2016/03/special-comment-democratic-presidential-primary-race/, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/business/in-florida-tomato-fields-a-penny-buys-progress.html?_r=1, http://www.ciw-online.org/, http://www.naplesnews.com/news/politics/elections/immokalee-farmworkers-skeptical-of-promises-claims-made-by-democrat-bernie-sanders-and-other-politi--371884701.html, http://fairfoodstandards.org/15SOTP-Web.pdf, https://politicaladarchive.org/ad/polad_berniesanders_08gzm/, https://berniesanders.com/press-release/tenemos-familias/

1mixture

Agriculture, Human Rights, Poverty, Workers, Florida, Bernie Sanders,

25803

"Facebook post Says ""Pelosi blackmails Congress! She demands mail-in voting or no 2nd stimulus for you and your family.”"

August 7, 2020

Pelosi does not have the power to “demand” mail-in voting for November; that is being decided by each state governor The HEROES Act includes election funding for states to conduct safe elections in any form during COVID-19

Emily Venezky

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to ""blackmail"" Congress, according to a post on Facebook with heavy use of all-caps: ""PELOSI BLACKMAILS CONGRESS! She DEMANDS MAIL IN VOTING or NO 2nd STIMULUS for you and your family."" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) This claim is inaccurate for a lot of reasons, but first some background. Under a stimulus package signed into law in March, millions of out-of-work Americans were receiving an additional $600 per week to help them better manage the financial blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic. Those checks expired at the end of July, and Washington lawmakers are embroiled in negotiations over what should be included in a new stimulus package. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, also known as the HEROES Act, passed the Democrat-led House of Representatives more than two months ago. The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools Act, also called the HEALS Act, was introduced by Senate Republicans at the end of July but hasn’t passed the Senate yet. There is a $2 trillion price difference between the two bills, but both offer the extension of stimulus checks from the CARES Act, with the HEROES Act upping the payment amount for dependents and extending the checks to immigrants with taxpayer identification numbers. Now, back to the claim that Pelosi  ""demands"" mail-in voting and is ""blackmailing"" Congress. Pelosi said in April that the House’s second stimulus package would ""be supporting vote by mail in a very important way."" The stimulus proposal passed by the House doesn’t include any legislation specific to mail-in voting, but it does fund elections generally. The bill includes up to $3.6 billion in funding for the ""planning, preparation, and resilience of elections,"" that would be distributed to states. So far, state governors are the ones deciding how to conduct voting and if they will only have mail-in voting in November. Congress already allocated $400 million in election funding for states in the CARES Act, and there is bipartisan support for more funding for states considering mail-in or early voting. The Republican-backed Senate bill does not include any extra funding for election safety during COVID-19. Federal law describes blackmail as a criminal offense punishable by fine, up to a year in prison or both. It amounts to someone demanding money or something of value from another ""under threat of informing or consideration for not informing against a violation of any law of the United States."" Pelosi has shown support for mail-in voting. But there is no evidence or credible suggestion she has blackmailed anyone. Frances Hill, law professor at the University of Miami, describes Pelosi’s negotiations with Republicans as ""playing hardball,"" which is ""routinely played by House Speakers"" and not considered ""blackmail."" ""Voting is the foundation of our democracy and Congress has a duty to ensure that appropriate funding is available,"" she said. Our ruling A Facebook post claimed that Pelosi is ""blackmailing"" Congress by not allowing a second stimulus bill to pass unless everyone votes by mail. Not only are state governors the only ones deciding how each state will vote, but the HEROES Act Pelosi is negotiating includes state funding for safe voting without any reference to mail-in voting."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaharziv/2020/05/16/heroes-act-passes-house-omits-2000-recurring-stimulus-checks-and-other-notable-items/#52ef68f21120, https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/508593-bipartisan-support-grows-for-inclusion-of-election-funding-in-senate, https://thehill.com/homenews/house/499033-pelosi-dems-press-case-for-mail-in-voting-amid-trump-attacks, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-defends-use-of-all-polling-sites-requiring-applications-for-mail-in-ballots/2020/07/20/09f0cdc6-cab0-11ea-91f1-28aca4d833a0_story.html, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/politics/pelosi-stimulus-negotiation/index.html, https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/politics/massachusetts-vote-by-mail-charlie-baker/index.html, https://www.eac.gov/payments-and-grants/2020-cares-act-grants, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=blackmail&f=treesort&fq=true&num=5&hl=true&edition=prelim&granuleId=USC-prelim-title18-section873, https://www.rpc.senate.gov/policy-papers/update-on-the-coronavirus-response-heals-act, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/how-the-heals-act-compares-to-the-heroes-act.html, https://www.axios.com/nevada-gov-mail-in-voting-bill-trump-sue-threat-e0b6987a-c993-4730-ada3-fb95e85b95cb.html, https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20200511/BILLS-116hr6800ih.pdf, https://www.natlawreview.com/article/federal-blackmail-extortion-statutes-nefarious-negotiations, https://www.facebook.com/carolyn.rome.12/posts/3842983242384411

0false

Congress, Facebook Fact-checks, Facebook posts,

6368

Florida latest place to declare emergency over hepatitis A.

Officials have declared a public health emergency over the rising number of hepatitis A cases in Florida, the latest part of the country dealing with outbreaks of the liver disease.

Marcus Lim

Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees declared an emergency Thursday to allow the state to spend more on testing and treatment, saying Florida has had more than 2,000 cases since the beginning of the year compared with 548 all of last year. Most have been in central Florida, and health officials are still investigating the sources. “We urge vaccination and stress the importance of washing your hands regularly,” Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez said in a tweet . Philadelphia also declared an emergency Thursday, and Mississippi officials announced an outbreak in their state earlier in the week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Kentucky has had 4,793 cases since an outbreak there in 2017; since 2018, Ohio has had 3,220 and West Virginia 2,528. Hepatitis A is a virus that infects the liver and is spread through food, water and objects tainted by feces, or through close contact. Its flu-like symptoms, if they occur, usually last about two months. It had been considered a disease that was fading away, thanks in part to vaccines available since 1995. As recently as 2015, fewer than 1,400 cases were reported nationwide. But three years ago, a wave of outbreaks among homeless people and illicit drug users began appearing in the U.S. More than two dozen states have reported such outbreaks since then, with more than 22,500 cases, including 221 deaths. Vaccines have typically been administered to children, but many of the new cases have been in adults. Florida had 65 new cases in the past two weeks alone, bringing the total to 2,034, state officials said. That compares with 548 last year and 276 cases in 2017. Dr. Eugene Schiff, director for liver diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and former epidemic intelligence service officer for CDC, told The Associated Press that the disease is likely spreading in Florida among homeless and unvaccinated people. He said intravenous drug users, men who have sex with men and the homeless are at a higher risk for the illness. “Homelessness is a big issue throughout the country and in Florida, and they are at higher risk to spread hepatitis A around,” Dr. Schiff said. “It is more epidemic in the homeless community.” But he noted that the vaccine protects people against the disease: “This is entirely preventable. It is not that this is a virulent strain, there is just a larger risk if people haven’t been vaccinated.” Dr. Neil Gupta, branch chief in the CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis in Atlanta, said cases have increased nationally since 2016 among homeless communities, drug-users and, to some extent, males who have sex with each other. There are 27 states that declared an outbreak. Gupta said the groups at-risk have historically not received vaccinations. “The most effective response measures are to increase vaccinations to the at-risk groups through coordinated, targeted vaccination efforts to stop the outbreak,” he said. ___ AP medical writer Mike Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.

https://twitter.com/LtGovNunez/status/1157300536477192193

2true

Health, General News, Florida, Philadelphia, Hepatitis, Miami, Liver disease, Public health

41983

A video showing people who appear to be impaired by drugs is labeled as being from California.

June 14, 2019

A video spreading on Facebook has been mislabeled to make a political statement about Democratic lawmakers in California. However, the video, which seems to show people under the influence of drugs, was filmed in Philadelphia.

Saranac Hale Spencer

A video spreading on Facebook has been mislabeled to make a political statement about Democratic lawmakers in California. However, the video, which seems to show people under the influence of drugs, was filmed in Philadelphia. A video showing people who appear to be impaired by drugs on a dirty sidewalk has been viewed more than 100,000 times on Facebook.The problem is that the video is captioned: “Welcome to California… Where Democrats run things.” The 16-second clip, however, was filmed in Pennsylvania, where control of state government is split between Republicans, who have a majority in the Legislature, and Democrats, who occupy the governor’s office.The video was recorded on Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia, an area that has been hit hard by poverty and the opioid crisis. It shows the street block just south of the Somerset Station train stop.In the first frame of the video, part of the Great Wall restaurant’s sign is visible, and the logo for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which runs the train stop, can be seen down the street.The opioid epidemic has received national attention as drug overdose deaths continue to rise across the country. According to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in November, Pennsylvania had the third highest drug overdose death rate in 2017. California was tied for the fifth lowest.The Facebook page that mislabeled the video belongs to conservative commentator David Harris Jr. Its “about” page says: “News and current events that matter to us. No nonsense, no bias, just truth.” But this video was falsely labeled. Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.Lubrano, Alfred. “How Kensington got to be the center of Philly’s opioid crisis.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. 23 Jan 2018.Robertson, Lori. “Trump Misleads on Opioid Epidemic Fight.” FactCheck.org. 5 Jun 2018.Hedegaard, Holly, et al. “Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 1999–2017.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nov 2018.Data table for Figure 3. Age-adjusted drug overdose death rates, by state: United States, 2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nov 2018.

https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?canonicalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.factcheck.org%2F2019%2F06%2Fmislabeled-video-politicizes-drug-problem%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtumblr%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-pug, https://www.legis.state.pa.us/, https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=432039134295948, https://www.governor.pa.gov/, http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/factcheck-org-to-work-with-facebook-on-exposing-viral-fake-news/, https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.factcheck.org%2F2019%2F06%2Fmislabeled-video-politicizes-drug-problem%2F%3Futm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-pug&t=Mislabeled%20Video%20Politicizes%20Drug%20Problem, https://www.factcheck.org/fake-news/, https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/kensington-opioid-crisis-history-philly-heroin-20180123.html#loaded, https://www.facebook.com/pg/DJHJMedia/about/?ref=page_internal, https://septa.org/stations/transit/subway/somerset.html, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db329.htm#fig3, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db329_tables-508.pdf#page=3, https://www.google.com/maps/place/2760+Kensington+Ave,+Philadelphia,+PA+19134/@39.9910748,-75.1232142,3a,75y,311.94h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8Pmn4oUtbtSzFQDuPH2JDg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x89c6c826e5b25305:0xbfea4b3c9dddbab!2s2760+Kensington+Ave,+Philadelphia,+PA+19134!3b1!8m2!3d39.9911851!4d-75.1233993!3m4!1s0x89c6c826e5b25305:0xbfea4b3c9dddbab!8m2!3d39.9911851!4d-75.1233993, https://davidharrisjr.com/about/, https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Mislabeled%20Video%20Politicizes%20Drug%20Problem&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.factcheck.org%2F2019%2F06%2Fmislabeled-video-politicizes-drug-problem%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-pug&via=factcheckdotorg, https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/trump-misleads-on-opioid-epidemic-fight/

0false

drugs, viral videos,

7009

Toledo clinic suspends surgical abortions during change.

Toledo’s last abortion clinic is administering only medication abortions as it undergoes a management change.

Capital Care Network of Toledo surrendered its license for performing surgical abortions to the Ohio Department of Health last week. The surrender prompted conflicting messages from anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights groups. The head of Greater Toledo Right to Life said Wednesday that Toledo’s “last surgical abortion chamber is closed.” NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio countered in a tweet that the halt in surgical abortions is temporary. Calls last February by feminist icon and Toledo native Gloria Steinem helped the clinic secure a patient-transfer agreement with a local hospital system, a requirement for surgical abortions. A clinic spokeswoman said Wednesday the agreement is no longer valid. She wouldn’t say whether the clinic will reapply.

/c4bfd060ab444202b439e5455e33c323,https://twitter.com/OhioGabe/status/1174409572745744386

2true

Health, Gloria Steinem, General News, Abortion, Toledo, Ohio

9339

The FDA Says This Brain-Stimulating Device May Help People With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

August 24, 2018

This article reports on an Food and Drug Administration “marketing authorization” for a commercial magnetic pulse delivery device designed to temporarily reduce the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) by affecting neurochemical transmissions in the brain. The device is worn on the head and, through a coil, delivers noisy, often headache-inducing pulses to part of the brain. Treatments are needed on an ongoing basis in most cases, and are delivered in a clinical setting by health care specialists. This type of device was first approved by the FDA for use in major depression and some migraine conditions. The text of the story only thinly describes the very limited clinical trial that informed the new FDA decision, and doesn’t go much beyond a news release from the company. The only quote is from an FDA official saying the device has “potential” to help people with OCD who have not responded to conventional therapy. An independent expert source would have likely made this story much stronger. The underlying cause and reasons why some therapies work for OCD are not well understood; it would be helpful if news articles about novel treatments would include that context. It is also imperative that this reporting is informed by as much detail about the clinical effectiveness as possible.

Joann Rodgers, MS,Elizabeth Russo, MD,Joy Victory

The article does not say how much this treatment cost nor whether insurance covers the costs. Some estimates of TMS put the cost of four to six week courses of five-day-a-week, 20-minute treatments at between $5,000 to $15,000 and up. The article does give data on the reduction of symptoms and how that reduction was measured and it does note that people in the intervention and control groups both continued to take OCD medications if they were on them to begin with. The article uses information from an FDA news release to discuss side effects: The most common side effect in the clinical trial was headache, which occurred in 37.5% of the treatment group and 35.3% of the sham treatment group. Other possible side effects were mild, and included temporary jaw or face pain, muscle spasms or twitching, and neck pain. This is enough to rate Satisfactory, but there is certainly more that could be said about side effects. We easily found evidence of short-term memory loss and patient complaints of significant anxiety by doing a quick Google search. As noted above, the article needed to say more about the design of the clinical trial, the participants’ range of symptoms, the facilities in which they were treated and to what degree the study group represents and reflects most people with OCD. Without that context, it’s hard to know really how valid the outcome data are. It’s not clear what the treatment consisted of in terms of duration and repetition of TMS. No mongering here. The article is weakened by the absence of expert comment and attribution of claims made by the company and the FDA. Nor does the reader learn anything about whether those who conducted the clinical trial have or had any ties to Brainsway or other conflicts of interest. Although the article mentions alternative treatments (psychotherapy and medications), it doesn’t compare them to outcomes claimed for TMS. Readers will understand that the TMS device is now commercially available for OCD, although the article does not offer any information about facilities that offer the treatment. The story makes it clear that TMS and TMS devices aren’t new, but this is the first time a TMS device can be marketed as an OCD treatment. However, the story says “there’s no equivalent device already available to patients,” but that doesn’t appear to be accurate. There are several brands of TMS devices. Is there anything unique about this one for OCD, or was Brainsway simply the first to test it on OCD patients? The story didn’t include anything significant that wasn’t in the FDA or Brainsway news releases. The only thing we spotted that diverged from the news releases was that BuzzFeed used numbers from the NIH on how many people have OCD.

1mixture

FDA,medical devices,mental illness

1656

EU drug agency sees no U.S.-like cannabis legalization moves.

June 4, 2015

European Union countries are unlikely to legalize marijuana any time soon as some parts of the United States have done recently, EU drug monitoring agency chief Wolfgang Gotz said on Thursday.

Andrei Khalip

He did not spell out why he expected no corresponding EU moves. But in a statement, his agency said a key finding in its latest annual report was a “marked rise in the potency and purity of Europe’s most commonly used illicit drugs, fuelling concerns for the health of users who, wittingly or unwittingly, may be consuming stronger products”. It also pointed out an increase in the numbers of cannabis-related health emergencies in Europe between 2008 and 2012. Gotz told a briefing arranged to present the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s report: “In Europe I do not know any government, or parliamentary majority backing a government, that is currently seriously discussing cannabis legalization or regulation in a different way. “I don’t see a discussion coming up of the level as it is in the Americas,” he said in Lisbon, the agency’s headquarters. Portugal pioneered the decriminalization of all drug use in 2001 and some countries have followed suit, making possession of small quantities of drugs, especially marijuana, a misdemeanor rather than criminal offence. Germany allows seriously ill patients to grow, buy and consume their own cannabis under a special license, and medical marijuana is legal in the Czech Republic, but otherwise cultivation and use remain illegal in the EU. In the United States, 23 states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana, and voters in four states have gone further by approving the drug for recreational use by adults. But the drug remains illegal under federal law, which classifies pot as a dangerous narcotic with no current medical use. The EU drug monitoring agency said technical innovation and market competition have led to an increase in the potency of cannabis, the purity of cocaine and the MDMA-content in ecstasy tablets. It also flagged market changes such as detection of heroin processing laboratories in Europe and a greater diversification of trafficking routes and opioid products, which, combined with a substantial increase in opium production in Afghanistan, could reverse declines in heroin supply and stagnation of demand.

2true

Health News

6490

Housing options help autistic adults find independence.

Masha Gregory was nervous to move out of her parents’ home and into her own place, where the 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman worried about making friends and being away from her parents. But after living in her own apartment at a complex that focuses on adults with autism, she’s made new friends and found she loves her independence.

Jamie Stengle

“It was great to move out because I have my own life now,” said Gregory, who lives in a Pittsburgh-area development where half of the 42 units are for those diagnosed with autism. “I want to be able to come and go as I please,” said Gregory, who likes to draw and take photographs. The complex, called the Dave Wright Apartments, opened in December and is among innovative housing developments popping up across the U.S. to serve those who were diagnosed with autism as children amid increased awareness about the disorder and changes in how it’s defined. The developments are often spearheaded by parents who see their adult children’s desire for independence and wonder who will care for them in the future. According to the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, 87 percent of adults with autism live with their parents at some point between high school and their early 20s — a far higher percentage than the general population. “They want to live independently and they want to work. They want to be involved. Right now there are just not enough opportunities for them to do those things,” said Debra Caudy, who is working with her husband on a housing development near Dallas inspired by their 19-year-old autistic son, Jon. Gregory’s mother, Connie, said her daughter is “thriving” in her new home. “I think she realizes that she fits in,” Gregory said. “I don’t know that she would feel as secure anywhere else.” Masha Gregory describes herself as having a “little bit of autism,” along with auditory processing disorder, meaning her ears and brain don’t function well together. Autism impairs one’s ability to communicate and interact with others, but there can be a wide range to the symptoms and severity of the disorder. Symptoms could include not speaking, repeating certain behaviors and not wanting change in daily activities. Some people with autism have signs of lower than normal intelligence, but others have normal to high intelligence. The new crop of developments to accommodate autistic adults is varied. Some are in big cities, others in small towns. Some are like the complex where Gregory has an apartment to herself. Others have homes with shared living areas and private bedrooms and bathrooms. Some just have a person on staff who can offer guidance to residents, while others offer an array of supportive services. “What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for the other,” said Carolyn Klebanoff, a co-founder of Sweetwater Spectrum, a development featuring four shared homes in Sonoma, California. “Having a whole variety of options out there is critical.” Sweetwater, which opened in 2013, is within walking distance of the town square. It has a community center, farm, greenhouse and pool. The homes have noise-dampening ceilings and quiet heating and air conditioning systems for residents who are hypersensitive to loud sounds. Residents include those like Klebanoff’s 23-year-old daughter who aren’t conversational, as well people with high-functioning autism. “It’s more like just a place to live,” said 24-year-old Sweetwater resident Gwen Fisher, while adding that she appreciates its focus on people with autism. Fisher said she participates in activities offered at Sweetwater but also gets out into the community, including working as a dog walker and volunteering at a food bank and animal shelter. Desiree Kameka, director of community engagement and the housing network at Madison House Autism Foundation in Maryland, said such developments can provide more freedom than group homes, where housing is typically tied to a specific provider of support services. “It gives the people that live there the most flexibility and control,” she said, adding that sometimes group home residents end up being required to all do the same outside activities. Many people with autism don’t qualify for government services once they leave school, she noted, and these developments may help bridge the gap, providing enough support that they can live on their own. “Some of these communities could give people opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t have: They’d be forced to live with family,” she said. Elliot Frank, president of the nonprofit Autism Housing Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, which was behind the Dave Wright Apartments where Masha Gregory lives, has watched as a community has formed there. Frank said he came up with the concept after hearing a businessman talk about employing autistic adults and wondering where they would live. “The whole concept of what we call disability housing, it’s not what we used to think about,” Frank said. ___ Follow Jamie Stengle on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JamieStengle

https://twitter.com/JamieStengle

2true

AP Top News, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, AP Weekend Reads, Health, U.S. News

33156

The Centers for Disease Control have issued a warning concerning used condoms being repurposed as hairbands.

December 4, 2015

In sum, while hair ties made with recycled condoms once circulated in China, the claims made in the Now8Newsarticle (that the CDC issued a warning to US residents and that the hair bands were made with used condoms) are false.

Dan Evon

On 1 December 2015, the web site Now8News published an article reporting that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had issued a warning about used condoms being repurposed as hairbands: The Center For Disease Control (CDC) is warning Americans that used condoms have been reportedly reprocessed into rubber bands and hair ties and have been sold in the United States, raising concerns about public health safety. Aside from being sold at local swap meets and flea markets, the recycled condoms have been found at local beauty salons all across the country. The CDC says this threatens the health of consumers who are using these products and are concerned that using these hair ties and rubber bands could lead to the spread of AIDS, genital warts and other STD’s. The CDC has released this statement: “The amount of bacteria and potential viruses on these hair ties and rubber bands, which are made from used unsanitary condoms, has 4 times the bacteria found on a public restroom toilet. Consumers could potentially be infected with AIDS, warts, herpes and other venereal diseases if they hold the rubber bands or hair ties in their mouths while setting their hair. We warn against consumers purchasing these products if they were made in China.” The CDC has not issued a warning about condoms being repurposed as hair ties. The above-quoted article is another clickbait story fabricated by the fake news site Now8News. Although Now8News‘s articles are usually quickly dismissed as fiction, there was an element of truth to this rumor. In 2007, prophylactic hair ties were discovered in two cities in China: In November 2007, news emerged from China that some hair bands manufactured there were found to have been made from recycled condoms. The prophylactic hair ties were discovered in Dongguan and Guangzhou, two cities in the province of Guangdong. (The colorful hair bands were believed to have been manufactured in Jinhua, a city in the province of Zhejiang.) The “secret ingredient” came to light when a young woman in Dongguan thought to investigate the hair bands given to her in a local salon after one began to fray, revealing an unexpected color inside. “The hair bands are swathed in colorful wool-like materials,” said Ms. Chen, the woman who found the condoms. “But a small part came loose when I used the bands to tie my hair up one morning. It looked strange to me because of its different color — not the yellow color we normally see in plastic bands. I peeled deeper and found something that looked like a condom.” It’s important to note that the hairbands sold in China in 2007 were not made from used condoms. Instead, the hair ties were made with new prophylactics that were recycled after they failed to meet quality standards during manufacturing.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/hairband.asp

0false

Junk News, condom hairbands, condoms, now8news

11100

Mesothelioma Surgery Improves Quality of Life, Study Finds

June 15, 2016

This news release describes a small study on surgery for mesothelioma that was presented at a recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. The study involved 114 mesothelioma patients who underwent a procedure called pleurectomy and decortication (PD). Following the surgery, patients generally reported experiencing improved quality of life. Although the news release appropriately explains malignant pleural mesothelioma and PD in an easy-to-understand manner, it omits many important details regarding the study’s design and limitations. It describes the benefits of the surgery but does not mention any of its risks and harms. The release also includes sensational language. We normally caution against covering studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a journal, since the findings tend to be preliminary. But if presentations are written about in a news release, we would expect a thorough weighing of the evidence, which was not the case here. Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer that represents less than 1 percent of all cancers. Prognosis is poor, since the median survival is about one year following diagnosis. Patients should be presented with treatments to improve their quality of life during their possible final year of life. Surgery is certainly an option, but is it really the best for this disease and for all patients? It is also important to present surgical treatments in a balanced, nuanced fashion, so that patients can be informed of the benefits and drawbacks before making such an important decision given the circumstances.

Euna Bodner, MS,Harold J. DeMonaco, MS,Kathlyn Stone

There is no mention of costs in the news release. Pleurectomy and decortication is a major two-part surgery requiring use of an operating room, post-operative recovery services and hospitalization as well as surgeon fees. Although the average age of the patients was 70 years, they ranged from 50 to 80 years. While Medicare coverage is available for those over age 65, it may not be for those under. A ballpark range of the surgery cost would have been helpful for both reporters and consumers, which is why we give the news release a “Not Satisfactory” rating here. The news release gives the impression that all patients experienced improved quality of life after surgery: “Patients who underwent an operation called pleurectomy and decortication (PD) generally reported their quality of life improved after surgery.” It also states, “Improved quality of life was observed in the first month after surgery and was maintained at late follow-up in all patients.” In the abstract, however, researchers explicitly state that not all patients experienced a benefit. For example, pain, fatigue and insomnia were worse at 1 month in all groups, while overall global health worsened at the first post-operative month, according to researchers. In one subset of patients, quality of life remained unchanged, while functional domain, physical functioning, role functioning and social functioning deteriorated at 1 month. In the abstract, researchers conclude that quality of life was not significantly better among patients with epithelioid (a type of immune cell) histology, pre-operative performance status of 0 and tumor volume <600 mL. But the news release didn’t include these findings but instead cited only the positive cases, ignoring the fact that all patients experienced worsening symptoms at 1 month.”Quality of life was not adversely affected by surgery at any time in patients who, prior to surgery, had performance status of 1 or 2; a tumor volume greater than 600 mL or a type of tumor cell called non-epithelioid,” it states. Due to all these factors, we give it a “Not Satisfactory” rating here. All interventions carry risks, and the news release does not mention any potential harms that may accompany major surgery. These include complications related to anesthesia — including blood clots and pneumonia, infection at the incision site, fluid build-up under the skin, bleeding, scarring and nerve damage. As mentioned in the “benefits” section, the news release also does not point out the patient subgroups who did not experience a marked improvement in their quality of life. For these reasons, we give it a “Not Satisfactory” rating here. There is no discussion on the quality or limitations of the evidence in the news release. For instance, this was a small study of 114 patients, all of whom underwent surgery. Likely for ethical reasons, there was no control group with which to compare outcomes, but this is a limitation that should be pointed out in the release. In addition, the quality of life survey used in the study measured overall functioning, general symptoms and overall health, but we don’t know how the patients fared on all these criteria. How were these criteria (such as cognitive functioning) measured? The news release notes:”Patients who underwent an operation called pleurectomy and decortication (PD) generally reported their quality of life improved after surgery.”  To its credit, the release does note the instrument used (EORTC QLQ-C30) but we are not told the magnitude of the improvement. Was the level of improvement clinically important or simply a statistical improvement? Given the importance of a balanced commentary we think that quantification is desirable over general statements. Without any discussion of the study’s limitations and context, we give the news release a “Not Satisfactory” rating here. There is no disease mongering in the news release. The news release does not mention any funding sources for the study but we’ll rate this “Not Applicable” since the surgeries described were performed in one surgeon’s practice. There are also no new drugs or devices in play and the procedures are not new or novel. The news release does not compare other treatments to pleurectomy and decortication. Although no cure is available, there are other types of surgeries to help treat mesothelioma. These include procedures to decrease fluid build-up (pleurodesis), to remove as much cancer as possible (debulking) and to remove a lung and surrounding tissue. Patients could also undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy to kill cancer cells. Since none of these options are discussed in the news release, we give it a “Not Satisfactory” rating here. The release notes that surgery in the opening paragraph:”Although surgery can prolong the lives of patients with an aggressive type of cancer called malignant pleural mesothelioma, many patients avoid the operation for fear it will degrade their quality of life.”  This makes it clear that surgery is a routine option for treatment although not specifically pleurectomy and decortication. We appreciate that the release is intended for a sophisticated audience but think that the wording could have been a bit clearer. Pleurectomy and decortication (PD) have been around since the 1950s and are not considered novel treatments and have previously been shown to improve or maintain QOL. We’re not sure what’s exactly “new” about this research. What insight does this study bring to the existing body of literature? Therefore, we give the news release a “Not Satisfactory” rating here. While not explicit, the news release veers toward absolute and ambiguous language at times. For example, it states that quality of life improved in all patients, which is not true, since some patients’ conditions remained unchanged. In others, quality of life was “not significantly better” or “adversely affected” by the surgery. In addition, the sole quote from the researcher is limited in our opinion, since it only talks about the net benefits of the surgery without any mention of its potential risks. The researcher also concludes the procedure is “justified” in a majority of patients. But as we had mentioned previously in the benefits section, it’s hard to make such sweeping statements on a small study with no control group. These comments should be compared to an earlier study by the same researcher who concluded: ”Extended pleurectomy and decortication did not improve overall HRQoL and had a negative impact in pulmonary function in minimally symptomatic patients.”

https://www.healthnewsreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/iStock_83896361_SMALL.jpg,http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/content/166584-176,http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652430/,http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652430/

0false

Academic medical center news release,Cancer

8331

Portugal suspends water, electricity shutoffs and releases some prisoners amid coronavirus outbreak.

April 8, 2020

Portugal’s parliament temporarily suspended electricity, water and gas shutoffs and granted partial pardon to some of its prisoners on Wednesday as the country moved to contain the economic and social damage of the coronavirus outbreak.

Catarina Demony, Victoria Waldersee

Until a month after the end of the state of emergency, called on March 18 to prevent the spread of coronavirus and extended last week to at least April 17, electricity, water, and gas cannot be shut off, easing pressure on Portuguese families struggling to pay their bills. Government data shows over 4,000 people registering at job centres per day in the first week of April and an increase in unemployment of 28,000 in March as the country’s export-driven, tourism-dependent economy reels from the sudden drop in demand. Also on Wednesday, parliament voted to grant partial pardon to prisoners with pre-existing health conditions, up to two-year sentences or less than two years left behind bars, in a move aimed at decongesting prisons to minimise risk in the event of an outbreak. Prisoners given sentences longer than six months who have served a quarter of their time, normally allowed three days leave, will be granted 45 days. “The virus would spread like a fuse in a prison,” justice minister Francisca Van Dunem said. “A decent state does not leave any of its citizens behind, even if they are prisoners.” Those convicted of homicide, sexual violence, physical abuse, or association with criminal networks will remain in prison, as well as anyone who committed a crime while in public office, from politicians to police officers. Portugal, currently in its third week of a nationwide state of emergency, has so far reported 13,141 confirmed coronavirus cases and 380 deaths, a relatively low toll, especially compared with neighbouring Spain and Italy. Earlier on Wednesday, hotel association AHP reported that around 85% of hotel workers in Portugal will be temporarily laid off in April due to the impact the coronavirus is having on the country’s economy. AHP also said the hotel industry could lose 80% to 90% of its revenues, or up to 1.4 billion euros between March and June if the novel coronavirus continues to spread. Portugal attracts millions of foreign visitors annually, and the tourism sector, accounting for nearly 15% of gross domestic product, helped it to recover from the 2010-14 debt crisis. (This story corrects 2nd paragraph to reflect that state of emergency was extended last week, not this week)

2true

Health News

10952

Latest anti-aging craze ‘Dracula Therapy’ involves injecting your face with your own blood

November 2, 2009

"Another in a series of stories that the NY Daily News simply picks up from an overseas paper and treats as its own – even putting its own reporter’s byline on the story! And another ""fountain of youth"" anti-aging story. The only one of our criteria that the story addressed was cost – which is high. Sensational, non-evidence-based – not much else to say about this one."

"We’re told that ""each visit runs a little over $800, and Dr. Sister recommends follow-up visits every four to six months."" None provided. Just the lone doctor’s claims that it ""stimulates DNA repair, heals scars and revitalizes wizened skin."" No discussion of potential harms. If you even cared about this idea, the story didn’t provide you with one bit of evidence on how well it works. And not one bit of evidence that the doctor’s concoction of blood, vitaminins and amino acids really is an ""enriched serum"" as the story states. Not even one comment about how ""dull and wrinkled skin"" is not a disease that must be treated. No independent sources; no evidence of any independent reporting. The story simply states that the blood and ""enriched serum"" approach works ""without turning to synthetic fillers or invasive laser treatments or peels."" But no evidence of any comparison was given. We learn about one French doctor using this approach in London. We are given no sense of whether anyone else is doing this or where. Readers aren’t given any sense of the novelty of this approach, nor how it compares with other wrinkle treatments. We don’t know if the story relied on a news release, but we do know the story was lifted from the UK Daily Mail. There is no evidence of any independent reporting."

0false

11771

Jerry Patterson Says the Texas General Land Office led by George P. Bush has repaired just two homes since Hurricane Harvey.

December 21, 2017

Patterson said that since Hurricane Harvey, the agency helmed by Bush has done just two home repairs. Patterson’s figure, confirmed by GLO, was accurate. However, this claim leaves out ample significant information such as FEMA’s overriding control of the complicated DALHR program, which isn't open to every homeowner and only funds partial repairs. Notably too, additional  homes were poised to qualify for or get repairs through DALHR at the time that Patterson spoke.

W. Gardner Selby

"Jerry Patterson says the fellow Republican who succeeded him as Texas land commissioner, George P. Bush, fixed very few homes in the months since Hurricane Harvey slapped ashore in August 2017. Patterson, otherwise confirming his 2018 candidacy for land commissioner, a post he previously held for 12 years, said in a recent interview that the Bush-led General Land Office hadn’t accomplished much in the way of hurricane relief. On Dec. 8, 2017, Patterson said to Austin American-Statesman commentator Ken Herman: ""I mean, who the hell’s in charge here? And now we have tens of thousands of Texans who are essentially homeless and the land office has repaired two--two homes. And we’ve got folks waking up that have been sleeping in tents and they got snow this morning. People are still sleeping in tents."" Patterson’s comment seemed potent given that the GLO announced in September 2017 it was teaming with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to hasten post-Harvey recovery in part by helping eligible survivors begin to patch up their homes--though full rebuilds weren’t in the mix. Bush said at the time: ""With the magnitude of the damage from Hurricane Harvey, there is no doubt this will require a long recovery. This agreement marks the beginning of a new model for simplifying and expediting the transition out of sheltering to short-term and long-term housing recovery efforts."" We focused this fact-check on Patterson’s insistence the GLO had only repaired two homes. Homeless--and tents? But Patterson’s other pokes also got our attention. How many Texans remain homeless due to the hurricane is hard to pin, we recently found. But a University of Texas expert, Gordon Wells, has estimated, based on flood insurance claims and satellite imagery, that at the least, more than 1 million Texas homes sustained flood damage though he told us that count could exceed 1.7 million. After Patterson spoke, we queried government officials about survivors in tents. By phone, the GLO’s Pete Phillips said some Aransas County residents, resistant to options such as out-of-town hotels, were residing in tents. Similarly, Bob Howard of FEMA’s Harvey response team responded by email: ""Every effort is made to ensure survivors are aware of available local, state and federal resources. Thus far, all tent-dwellers found by the field team have indicated they prefer to remain in their current status or are not eligible for federal disaster assistance."" Now let’s turn to Patterson’s focus on homes repaired with government help since Harvey and related rains flooded much of Southeast Texas. Patterson points to federal program We asked Patterson the basis of his numerical claim; he told us by phone that he was referring to two homes repaired as of early December 2017 through the federal Direct Assistance for Limited Home Repair (DALHR) program. Patterson, who said he’d drawn his tally of two from state-enlisted contractors and others he declined to identify, urged us to seek insight from elected leaders in counties hit by Harvey. We heard back from elected officials in two counties. Galveston County’s county judge, Mark Henry, said by phone that flooding due to Harvey had flooded 22,000 to 24,000 local homes with water an inch to eight feet deep. Henry, who volunteered that he’s a longtime friend to Patterson, said his office daily fields calls from residents awaiting help. Calling delayed  repairs ""frustrating,"" Henry said: ""As far as the why"" repairs have been delayed, Henry said, ""I don’t know and I don’t care. I want it to get done."" By email, a GLO spokeswoman,  Brittany Eck, specified that as of mid-December 2017, the agency along with FEMA had housed 56 Galveston County ""applicant households and 446 are in the process of receiving a direct housing solution."" Also by phone, Loyd Neal, Nueces County’s judge, expressed chagrin that no agency advanced dollars enabling the Coastal Bend Council of Governments to hire individuals to consider applicants for short-term housing help. By email, Eck countered that the GLO had guaranteed up to $200,000 in reimbursed administrative costs to the regional councils asked to help administer post-Harvey housing assistance. Eck said that after the Coastal Bend council declined to participate, GLO employees were carrying out the program in that region. Neal told us that nearly four months since Harvey’s arrival, FEMA-funded housing including trailers or manufactured homes had yet to be brought into Port Aransas, the island tourist town where, Neal elaborated, more than two-thirds of local hurricane-damaged condominiums had yet to reopen. ""It’s an absolute disgrace,"" Neal said, ""that the state of Texas and the federal government and whoever else is in charge of this have not responded. It’s the greatest bureaucratic buck-passing I’ve ever seen."" By email, Eck said that per FEMA in December 2017, 52 Nueces County households were in need of direct housing assistance. Correct count, but… We confirmed Patterson’s count of two homes whose DALHR repair projects had been completed with Eck and Phillips, a land office administrator. But those officials said Patterson’s claim gave short shrift to everything Harvey-related that Bush and the land office have undertaken and, Phillips said, to FEMA’s supervisory governing role. ""He is oversimplifying what is going on,"" Phillips said, and ""cherry-picking"" given that the federal government supports housing options including thousands of hotel rooms, two types of home repair and possibly temporary apartments or trailers or manufactured homes. At the state level too, Phillips elaborated, ""we’re always at the mercy of FEMA. They control the triage process"" including, Eck said, confidential lists of homeowners for GLO to contact about their possibly seeking partial repairs backed by federal aid. Patterson, commenting on Phillips’ general assessment of his claim, said by email that ""to be clear, I made a statement, and it turned out to be 100% factually accurate. None of the ‘context’ or ‘cherry-picking’ BS need apply."" DALHR in Texas In November 2017, Bush announced the completion of the first DALHR home-repair project in Dickinson, in Galveston County. A GLO press release said the project included electrical and plumbing repairs, wall insulation, sheet rock, siding repair and replacing kitchen and bathroom sinks and a bathtub. That release said DALHR ""provides permanent repairs for homeowners with moderate damages who lack available housing resources."" But not everybody qualifies, the release made clear, in that beneficiaries must have sustained a FEMA-verified loss of $17,000 or more after 18 inches of interior flooding or more--though Phillips told us the GLO later encouraged FEMA to drop the 18-inch requirement, a change that qualified an additional 2,600 homes for consideration. According to the release, interested homeowners had to clear another half dozen hurdles such as a lack of other applicable insurance coverage and that eligible damages wouldn't exceed $60,000 or half the pre-hurricane taxable assessed value of the home. Then again, Eck told us by email, the latter limit was subsequently relaxed to allow awards to pay for up to half of a home’s replacement value. The November release also said that funded repairs under DALHR ""are limited to real property components such as heating, plumbing, ventilation and air conditioning, walls, floors and ceilings,"" leaving our structural or engineering needs or any items covered by other aid. Varied aid offerings Let’s walk through some more of what the GLO and FEMA described as the programs they’re steering to Harvey survivors. Notably, Phillips said, and FEMA’s Howard confirmed, the teaming of the state agency with FEMA to coordinate short-term housing aid marked the first time a state agency had been given that front-line role. Eck said Gov. Greg Abbott ""tapped the GLO to help FEMA implement these programs three weeks after the storm, in part due to the enormity of the affected area. In all cases, the applicant must be approved for eligibility by FEMA and, if interested, agree to the terms of FEMA’s regulations. The GLO is processing eligible applicants for short-term housing programs as FEMA is making their information available to the agency,"" Eck wrote. By email, Eck wrote that individuals displaced by the hurricane and its aftermath were offered federally funded hotel stays by FEMA while they looked for longer-term housing. ""This program is currently housing 15,027 individuals in 1,334 hotels,"" Eck said. ""None of the programs provided by FEMA are designed to be a permanent home replacement or complete repair program,"" Eck added. ""The programs are designed to be short-term (up to 18 months) stopgap solutions while individuals work on long-term solutions."" Starting Nov. 18, 2017, Eck wrote, the agency through early December 2017 had contacted 664 households judged by FEMA to be potentially qualified for the program. She said those contacts led to 290 expressions of interest and 182 DALHR home inspections--with 67 homes pre-qualified for repairs and 13 work orders issued for builders to start. ""To date, two homes have had the work completed,"" Eck wrote. By email. FEMA’s Howard wrote: ""We believe it is two projects at this point."" Phillips said by phone that his DALHR goal was to complete more than 100 home projects by 2018; he said 36 builders were standing by ready to do the ""re-work"" on homes. Meantme, Phillips said, over 670 Texas families had received direct housing help by landing a trailer or manufactured home. At our request, FEMA’s Howard emailed us that agency’s daily Harvey fact sheet from the date that Patterson made his claim stating that 638 Texas families by then had been provided a trailer or manufactured home. As of mid-December, Howard told us by email, 8,057 Harvey survivors in the state still showed a need for a trailer or manufactured home and, he said, 2,600 of them remained under review for DAHLR aid. Otherwise, Phillips said, the GLO helped make available 40 apartment units in Wharton and also found 120 units of  ""corporate housing"" to be made available in Conroe, in both cases under FEMA-backed programs. Howard said that generally by Dec. 14, 2017, 894,606 Texas residents had registered for Harvey-tired FEMA assistance of one kind or another. Another Patterson-cited program Patterson further told us the GLO had failed to help Texans benefit from another FEMA offering, the Partial Repair and Essential Power for Sheltering (PREPS) program, which provides up to $20,000 enabling homeowners to shelter in their homes thanks to limited repairs and the restoration of power. Eck said by email that PREPS aid was being offered by FEMA separately in that beneficiaries need a local government to provide a 10 percent match for an award to be made. By phone, meantime, Phillips said GLO officials had judged PREPS to be of limited value because families getting awards end up practically camping at home. The DALHR program, Phillips said, gets families ""close to being whole."" Our ruling Patterson said that since Hurricane Harvey, the agency helmed by Bush has done just two home repairs. Patterson’s figure, confirmed by GLO, was accurate. However, this claim leaves out ample significant information such as FEMA’s overriding control of the complicated DALHR program, which isn't open to every homeowner and only funds partial repairs. Notably too, additional  homes were poised to qualify for or get repairs through DALHR at the time that Patterson spoke. – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information."

https://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2017/dec/08/ryan-sitton/ryan-sitton-errantly-says-12-million-people-left-w/, http://www.glo.texas.gov/the-glo/news/press-releases/2017/september/texas-glo-signs-agreement-negotiated-for-disaster-assistance-with-fema.pdf, https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTEzGZO7NWXW8ecmy8sfHtbUuryJ8IfQIi8ObRGeVPSDfVVr9D308-4omh01PgNrEuPsRMQf02Ryxhq/pub, https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQs_qhin-Mf8-UwRGZnMMKMQ2ULN7qWpmkXy1EgCII0ZrwL676JpGfPZlFsY2lHVIAkle2f5aTxAD5I/pub, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vr-u2U_5WmaHOIfiv0FLLrAVcpHufLifY2lGptKK3XU/edit?usp=sharing, https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTUWrvOg-XFAJqJqJw0ZlYF4wFLugejRQ3DPAl3VPehYjp28ct2jwZzv47Qbr2jwYPiTL4HA9EcfxNc/pub, http://www.statesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/jerry-patterson-challenge-george-bush-for-land-commissioner/U7UDmHORhkPUooCBQk26aP/, http://www.glo.texas.gov/the-glo/news/press-releases/2017/november/cmr-george-p-bush-glo-announces-completion-of-first-direct-assistance-for-limited-home-repair-project.html, https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vS3TIhip3II6ZSkZnDi_JdfUmeV5lEu5OL186HR1OjdcUm1sLQdlV5Z4wjAJNrthVDgQ9tcPfKQZTOn/pub

2true

Housing, Natural Disasters, Texas, Jerry Patterson,

17159

Republican Party of Florida Says Charlie Crist supports "cuts to the Medicare Advantage program."

April 9, 2014

The Republican Party of Florida said Crist supports "cuts to the Medicare Advantage program." Crist has flip-flopped on a lot of issues, including the federal health care law. He used to oppose the Affordable Care Act, but now he supports it. The law tries to bring down future health care costs by reducing Medicare Advantage payments. But on the issue of Medicare Advantage, Crist has actually been consistent: He's been critical of the Medicare Advantage cuts for years. He specifically said he opposed the reductions in 2009 and 2010, and he still opposes them today. Crist doesn’t appear to have come up with other ways to save money on health care without reducing payments to Medicare Advantage. But our purpose here is to fact-check the claim that he supports the cuts, and we found no proof that he does.

Amy Sherman

"Gov. Rick Scott used his visit to an assisted living facility in Tampa to create a campaign video to bash President Barack Obama over potential cuts to Medicare Advantage. Scott’s Republican Party of Florida goes a step further by portraying his likely Democratic opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, as an Obama supporter. ""I stand against Charlie Crist because he supports President Obama and the cuts to the Medicare Advantage program,"" said the Republican Party of Florida on Facebook April 1. They repeated the claim again on Twitter on April 9. It’s a fact that Crist supports Obama -- and the Affordable Care Act. (We traced Crist’s various positions on the law in 2010.) But does Crist support cuts to Medicare Advantage? Background on Medicare Advantage In Florida, about 1.4 million seniors are on Medicare Advantage while roughly 4.4 million are in traditional Medicare. The health care law tries to bring down future health care costs of Medicare largely by reducing Medicare Advantage, a subset of Medicare plans that are run by private insurers. The hope was that the increased competition from the private sector would reduce costs. But those plans are actually costlier than traditional Medicare. So the health care law reduces payments to private insurers. Advantage plans are required to offer basic health benefits that are at least as rich as original Medicare. But many offer extras, such as rebates on premiums, routine dental care, gym memberships and rides to the doctor, in order to compete for business. When the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, one of the attempts to pay for subsidized health insurance was to cut payments to the Medicare Advantage program to bring costs more in line with traditional Medicare. The Congressional Budget Office has predicted these cuts would save the government about $156 billion over a decade. What Crist has said about cutting Medicare Advantage We searched for statements Crist made about Medicare Advantage starting in 2009 when he was Florida’s Republican governor. We found Crist has actually opposed changes to Medicare Advantage over the years. In December 2009, Crist released a statement in support of an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to protect Medicare and Medicare Advantage. As you’ll see from his rhetoric, Crist opposed the health care law back then: ""Cuts to Medicare would adversely affect Florida’s seniors who have paid into the program and rely on its services for their important health needs. ... Many of Florida’s seniors rely on Medicare Advantage for supplemental or increased benefit options. Stripping away a needed benefit from our seniors in order to move toward a single-payer system where bureaucrats are inserted between doctors and their patients is not the health reform Americans deserve."" In July 2010 -- after he became an independent while running for U.S. Senate -- Crist released another statement about his position on the health care bill. Here is a portion: ""Had I been in the United States Senate at the time, I would have voted against the bill because of unacceptable provisions like the cuts to the Medicare Advantage program. But being an independent, I have the freedom to be an honest broker for the people of Florida without regard for political party, and the reality is this: despite its serious flaws, the Obama health care bill does have some positive aspects. Repeal must be accompanied by a responsible substitute....."" In August 2010, he made a similar statement in which he said if he had been a senator, ""I would have voted against the bill because of unacceptable provisions like the cuts to the Medicare Advantage program."" Again he called for a ""responsible substitute."" Miami Herald politics reporter Marc Caputo wrote a column about Crist’s ""Obamacare conundrum"" in March 2014. Caputo quoted a statement by Crist: ""I don’t support the cuts to Medicare Advantage. In every major law, there are things you like and things you don’t. The president and Congress should fix it."" It’s not an unusual position to support the law and yet speak against changes for Medicare Advantage. In an election year, dozens of Democratic members of the House or Senate have spoken against Medicare Advantage rate reductions. At the time of RPOF’s claim, Medicare Advantage cuts were still on the table -- so we will limit our rating to information available at the time. However, we will note that after the federal government’s announcement that it would not reduce payments to Medicare Advantage, Crist tweeted on April 7: ""Great to learn that @BarackObama is reversing cuts to Medicare Advantage. This is great news for Florida seniors."" So what evidence does the Republican Party of Florida have that Crist supports the cuts? ""If he supports the law, he supports all of it,"" including Medicare Advantage cuts, RPOF spokeswoman Susan Hepworth told PolitiFact Florida in an email. One final footnote about Crist and Medicare Advantage. The federal government is depending on savings from Medicare Advantage to offset the costs of the Affordable Care Act. So we asked the Crist campaign, if Crist is against the Medicare Advantage cuts, what would he recommend to achieve the needed savings? We did not hear any specific solutions from Crist campaign spokesman Kevin Cate. ""It’s the responsibility of the president and Congress to fix any cuts to Medicare Advantage,"" Cate said. Our ruling The Republican Party of Florida said Crist supports ""cuts to the Medicare Advantage program."" Crist has flip-flopped on a lot of issues, including the federal health care law. He used to oppose the Affordable Care Act, but now he supports it. The law tries to bring down future health care costs by reducing Medicare Advantage payments. But on the issue of Medicare Advantage, Crist has actually been consistent: He's been critical of the Medicare Advantage cuts for years. He specifically said he opposed the reductions in 2009 and 2010, and he still opposes them today. Crist doesn’t appear to have come up with other ways to save money on health care without reducing payments to Medicare Advantage. But our purpose here is to fact-check the claim that he supports the cuts, and we found no proof that he does."

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/08/crist-flip-flop-563-i-would-have-voted-for-health-care-bill.html, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/aug/29/paul-ryan/paul-ryan-said-president-obama-funneled-716-billio/, https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43471-hr6079.pdf, http://www.rpof.org/6-numbers-need-know-medicare-advantage-cuts/, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2010/sep/02/marco-rubio/rubio-says-crist-has-taken-six-different-positions/, https://www.politifact.com/florida/article/2014/mar/25/rick-scotts-political-committee-attacks-rival-char/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/04/07/obama-administration-reverses-proposed-cut-to-medicare-plans/, http://www.rickscottforflorida.com/medicare-advantage-cuts-are-threat-to-all-of-us/, http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2014/03/charlie-crists-obamacare-conundrum.html, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/mar/03/rick-scott/rick-scott-says-medicare-rate-cuts-will-affect-sen/, https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152129665629480&set=a.10150146318989480.285082.10766454479&type=1&theater, http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/202702-obamas-new-healthcare-dilemma, http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/rubio-crist-sound-health-care-jobs/2031857

0false

Health Care, Medicare, Florida, Republican Party of Florida,

3432

French panel: Seize guns to reduce domestic violence.

A French government panel on domestic violence is urging authorities to begin confiscating guns from people following the first complaint of family violence levied against them.

Claire Parker

That proposal was one of 65 recommendations released Tuesday to tackle the intractable problem of domestic violence in France, where a woman is killed by her partner every three days, according to government statistics. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe launched the initiative in September. It’s the first time that France has undertaken a comprehensive national effort to address domestic violence, according to Gender Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa. Other proposals include mandatory reporting requirements for health professionals who witness signs of domestic violence and new protocols for police responding to domestic violence complaints. The experts also are encouraging awareness programs about gender violence, urging banks to make it easier for women to leave their partners, and educating children and adolescents about gender equality. Schiappa said most of domestic violence killings in France are carried out with guns, arguing that if authorities take away the weapons that could reduce such deaths. French law enforcement has received much criticism for failing to quickly and adequately respond to complaints of domestic violence. The government began to treat the issue with increased urgency after President Emmanuel Macron visited a domestic violence hotline in September and observed a police officer rejecting a woman’s call for help. Schiappa, who is overseeing the government commission, told a news conference Tuesday that the recommendations mark an important step toward “a system of zero tolerance” for all types of domestic violence. The commission also urged greater awareness of the psychological effects of domestic abuse, including when women feel so trapped in a toxic relationship that they decide to kill themselves. In 2018, 217 French women died by suicide for this reason, according to lawyer and domestic violence specialist Yael Muller. Schiappa said it is important to recognize “psychological violence” and “economic violence” as forms of domestic violence that are just as pernicious as physical blows. She described a case of a woman who was driven by her partner to jump out of a window. “Does he bear no responsibility since he didn’t physically push her? I don’t believe so,” she said. “We still have an enormous amount to do to make progress against domestic violence, because for years, despite all the efforts of previous ministers, the number of femicides has not decreased,” she said. The government pledged 5 million euros ($5.5 million) in September to create 1,000 shelters for female victims of domestic violence in 2020. An additional 1 million euros ($1.1 million) will go toward anti-domestic violence initiatives. The recommendations will now go to government ministries and France’s National Assembly and Senate to consider making them into law. The commission will formally conclude its work on Nov. 25, the international day for the elimination of violence against women.

2true

International News, General News, Violence, France, Lifestyle, Health, Domestic violence, Edouard Philippe, Europe

5261

Opioid crisis brings unwanted attention to wealthy family.

The Sackler name is emblazoned on the walls at some of the world’s great museums and universities, including the Smithsonian, the Guggenheim and Harvard. But now the family’s ties to OxyContin and the painkiller’s role in the deadly opioid crisis are bringing the Sacklers a new and unwanted kind of attention and complicating their philanthropic legacy.

Alanna Durkin Richer

The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, the privately held drug company that has made billions from OxyContin, and Sacklers hold most of the seats on the board. Members of the family have been accused in a case brought by the state of Massachusetts of deceiving patients and doctors about the drug’s risks as deaths mounted. And documents recently released in the case shine new light on former Purdue Pharma President Richard Sackler’s role in the aggressive marketing of the powerful opioid. As the allegations mount, family members who made their fortunes well before OxyContin even went on the market have sought to distance themselves from their relatives. At the same time, activists have called on institutions to cut ties with the Sacklers, staging protests at museums that have received millions in donations. “The Sackler name is becoming synonymous with the opioid epidemic, and it is damning for these institutions to have their name up,” said Nan Goldin, a photographer whose works have been displayed at Harvard’s Arthur M. Sackler Museum and at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has a Sackler Wing. Lost in the outrage: One of the most generous and best known of the Sacklers died in 1987, nearly a decade before OxyContin was released. Arthur M. Sackler made his money from medical research, medical advertising and trade publications. His younger brothers, Raymond and Mortimer, bought out his stake after he died. Arthur Sackler’s name is on a gallery at the Smithsonian, a wing of galleries at London’s Royal Academy of Arts and a museum at Beijing’s Peking University. The Sackler Wing at the Met, which houses the celebrated Temple of Dendur from ancient Egypt, was funded by all three brothers. Richard has likewise donated heavily to various institutions. After a federal investigation, Purdue Pharma and three executives — none of them Sacklers — pleaded guilty in 2007 and agreed to pay more than $600 million for misleading the public about the risks of OxyContin. The Stamford, Connecticut, company has also been hit with a multitude of lawsuits over its role in the opioid crisis that killed more than 47,000 people in 2017 alone. Arthur’s nephew, Richard Sackler, who became president of Purdue Pharma in 1999 and remains on the board, is at the center of the litigation. He and other current and former executives have been accused of hiding the dangers of the drug from doctors and patients, encouraging physicians to prescribe more of the highest doses and minimizing the abuse crisis as it was unfolding. “This is not too bad. It could have been far worse,” he wrote to Purdue Pharma executives in 2001 after a federal prosecutor reported that 59 people in one state had died from OxyContin, according to documents released this week in the Massachusetts case. At the launch party for OxyContin in 1996, Richard Sackler boasted the drug would bring a “blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition,” the documents say. Years later, they say, he sought to shift blame onto drug users themselves, recommending the company “hammer on the abusers in every way possible.” “Richard followed that strategy for the rest of his career: collect millions from selling addictive drugs, and blame the terrible consequences on the people who became addicted,” attorneys in Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office wrote. “By their misconduct, the Sacklers have hammered Massachusetts families in every way possible. And the stigma they used as a weapon made the crisis worse.” A spokesman for Richard Sackler’s family referred questions about the lawsuit to the company. Purdue Pharma said in a statement that Massachusetts’ case — the first one brought by a state to personally name members of the Sackler family — is “littered with biased and inaccurate characterizations.” The company said it will “aggressively defend against these misleading allegations.” Arthur Sackler’s widow and children insist that they never financially benefited from the sale of OxyContin. “It is a gross injustice to connect Arthur to the opioid crisis some 30 years after his death when he had nothing to do with it,” Dame Jillian Sackler said in a statement. “It denies the many important contributions he made working to improve world health and to build cultural bridges between peoples.” But activists have made no distinction between Arthur and his relatives. In July, dozens of activists led by Goldin held a protest inside the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard, scattering pill bottles and holding banners that read “SHAME ON SACKLER.” Similar demonstrations have been held at the Met and the Smithsonian. Goldin, who was addicted OxyContin for years, said that getting the institutions to act will be difficult. “Who is going to turn down the money? They offer millions to these institutions, and the board members are not necessarily committed to action, so it’s going to take a lot,” she said. A Met spokesman said that the Sackler family’s support began decades before the opioid crisis, but that the museum will be examining its gift acceptance policies. The Guggenheim, home to the Sackler Center for Arts Education, had no comment. A Harvard spokesman said in an email that Arthur Sackler’s donation in 1982 paid for the construction of the building that originally housed the museum but that his foundation does not fund the museum. ___ Associated Press reporter Verena Dobnik contributed to this report from New York. ___ Follow Alanna Durkin Richer at http://www.twitter.com/aedurkinricher

2true

Health, AP Top News, Museums, Harvard, Massachusetts, U.S. News

8190

Asia prepares for coronavirus boomerang wave as residents return home.

March 17, 2020

Governments in Asia are preparing measures to head off a new wave of coronavirus cases as people flee an explosion of the disease in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Donny Kwok, Ryan Woo

As the world mobilizes to battle the virus, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan have been relatively successful in curbing the spread so far. But a surge in imported cases in recent days has raised alarm that those efforts could rapidly unravel. “In many countries the number of confirmed cases can be described as explosive,” Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told a press briefing on Tuesday. “If we don’t adopt some strict measures...I’m afraid all precaution efforts done in the past two months would be wasted.” The latest tally from mainland China, the original epicenter of the coronavirus, showed 21 new confirmed cases on Monday, of which 20 involved infected travelers arriving from abroad, mostly Chinese nationals. Hong Kong said most of the recent confirmed cases in the past two weeks were imported. In Taiwan, 24 new cases up to Tuesday were all imported, while South Korea had 44 new infections involving infected travelers as of Sunday. Singapore confirmed 17 new infections on Monday, its biggest daily jump in cases, with 11 of those imported. The rush to flee virus hotspots in Europe and the United States has pushed up the price of flights. A ticket from London to Hong Kong was going for up to HK$50,000 on Monday night as people tried to get to the city before it imposed tougher restrictions. “It is safer home than in Britain as the policy to contain the outbreak under Boris Johnson is doubtful,” said Ling, a Cambridge University student after landing in Hong Kong wearing a surgical mask and rubber gloves. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Britain rose to 1,543, up from 1,372 the day before, the health ministry said on Monday. The British death toll rose to 55. Four of Hong Kong’s 157 confirmed coronavirus patients have died, while more than 3,200 people have died from the disease in mainland China, the highest number of fatalities. Measures in China, Hong Kong and Singapore, include city-wide lockdowns, border tightening, contact tracing efforts and strict social distancing. The virus has already taken a heavy economic toll, especially in mainland China and global financial hub Hong Kong, so any rise in new cases could be devastating. Hong Kong on Tuesday toughened measures on travelers, requiring 14 days of quarantine for those entering the city as of midnight on Thursday, and joined Singapore in advising against all non-essential travel. China said all inbound, non-transit travelers to Beijing need to be isolated for 14 days at designated quarantine venues, mostly hotels in the city. Macau, the world’s biggest gambling hub, on Tuesday banned the entry of all non-residents, a move likely to have a significant impact on the already struggling casino industry. How seriously authorities in Asia take the virus battle has been underscored by punishments meted out or threatened to those who violate quarantine rules or give false information about their whereabouts or travel history. Taiwan said those who do not follow home isolation or quarantine rules could be fined between T$100,000 and T$1 million (US$ 3,300- US$33,000), and has advised people not to travel abroad at all. “We held firm to block the first wave of infection, but a new wave is coming, so everyone should cooperate with disease prevention efforts,” Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a news conference on Monday. While the imported infections in mainland China are still modest in number - 143 cases so far - authorities are concerned that virus carriers could trigger a second wave. The first imported case was reported in late February in the northwestern Ningxia region involving a traveler flying in from Iran. More cases quickly arrived from Iran, a hotspot with nearly 15,000 infections so far, followed by the first infected travelers from Italy in the first week of March. Soon, the infected were spotted on flights from countries including Spain, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand entered the list this week.

2true

Health News

41801

The U.S. “would actually be on a glide path to balancing the budget” had Congress enacted Trump’s 2018 plan.

January 10, 2019

Companies in India will seek exemptions from the government’s planned ban on certain plastic items, fearing the move will disrupt supply chains and raise costs ahead of a festive season, according to sources and an industry document seen by Reuters.

D'Angelo Gore

India is likely to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups, small bottles, straws and some types of sachets next month as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to reduce use of pollution-causing, single-use plastic. But the plans have stoked fears among consumer firms, which, use plastic in packaging for everything from sodas and biscuits to ketchup and shampoo. “This has created an existential issue for multiple sectors,” said the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a lobby group, in a two-page draft note, seen by Reuters, which is likely to be finalised and sent to the government in the coming days. The CII will ask the government to consult industry executives and define what will be categorized as single-use plastics, while also pitching for some exemptions, according to the note. It says small-sized plastic bottles used for pharmaceutical or health products should be exempted as there is no alternate available. Sachets made from so-called multi-layered packaging should also not be banned, as that could disrupt supplies of key products such as biscuits, salt and milk, the CII draft says. A senior Indian government official said several industry representations were being reviewed, but the aim was to “get rid of the menace of plastic pollution” without causing disruption. In an Independence Day speech on Aug. 15, Modi urged people and government agencies to “take the first big step” on Oct. 2 towards freeing India of single-use plastic. India lacks a system for management of plastic waste, but environmentalists have hailed Modi’s move, saying it will help combat plastic waste that chokes rivers and drains. A ban on certain plastics from Oct. 2, however, will come just weeks ahead of big Hindu festivals for which business plans are laid out far in advance because they typically see a sharp rise in consumer purchases. Two industry sources said Amazon.com Inc, which uses plastics in its packaging, has been concerned that a possible ban could disrupt its operations ahead of festivities, and during its mega annual discount sale that starts Sept. 29. In recent weeks, executives from Coca-Cola Co, PepsiCo and consumer goods seller Hindustan Unilever have been part of industry delegations that met government officials to express concerns and discuss alternate packaging solutions, according to a person with direct knowledge. Coca-Cola said in a statement that all its primary packaging does not consist of single-use plastic. Pepsi said its target was to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable by 2025. Hindustan Unilever did not respond to a request for comment. Amazon did not respond, but has previously said that it plans to replace single-use plastic in its packaging by June 2020. “The ban has ramifications for all sectors like food processing, dairy, garments, toys,” said Jayesh Rambhia of All India Plastic Manufacturers Association, which has 22,000 companies as members. “People, and companies, are pulling their hair today.”

https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/53651-outlook.pdf#page=133, https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?canonicalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.factcheck.org%2F2019%2F01%2Ftrumps-budget-wouldnt-erase-deficits-cbo-said%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtumblr%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-pug, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2018-08/53884-apb2019.pdf, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/52846-apb.pdf, http://www.crfb.org/papers/cbos-analysis-presidents-fy-2018-budget, http://www.crfb.org/papers/cbos-analysis-presidents-fy-2019-budget, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2019-BUD/pdf/BUDGET-2019-BUD.pdf#page=125&zoom=auto,-265,793, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2018-BUD/pdf/BUDGET-2018-BUD.pdf#page=32&zoom=auto,5,-202, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1901/06/sotu.01.html, https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.factcheck.org%2F2019%2F01%2Ftrumps-budget-wouldnt-erase-deficits-cbo-said%2F%3Futm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-pug&t=Trump%27s%20Budget%20Wouldn%27t%20Erase%20Deficits%2C%20CBO%20Said, https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Trump%27s%20Budget%20Wouldn%27t%20Erase%20Deficits%2C%20CBO%20Said&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.factcheck.org%2F2019%2F01%2Ftrumps-budget-wouldnt-erase-deficits-cbo-said%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-pug&via=factcheckdotorg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-22/trump-signs-1-5-trillion-tax-cut-in-first-major-legislative-win

1mixture

budget, debt, deficit,

10547

New Breast Cancer Test Approved

February 7, 2007

For women with early stage breast cancer, the decision to undergo chemotherapy after surgery is a difficult one to make. This story reports on the recent FDA approval of a genetic test that may help in the decision making process. The goal of the test is to help predict if the cancer is likely to recur. Theoretically, if the cancer is unlikely to recur, then chemotherapy can be avoided. If there is a higher likelihood that the cancer will come back, a woman might decide she wants to do everything she can to prevent that from happening. While this story does a good job of explaining the potential importance of the test, it does not present important information for the consumer, most notably, the lack of evidence that this test improves outcomes in patients. The story does not describe the cost of the test, does not adequately describe potential harms of the test, nor does the study quote any experts who can put the test in context with existing approaches. The story does not exaggerrate the prevalence or seriousness of breast cancer. However, the story verges on 'treatment mongering' by stating that 'one in seven women in the US will have breast cancer in their lifetime.' While this may be true (although some question the framing of the statistics in this manner), according to government statistics (SEER), fewer than half of these women would be eligible for the test if it can only be used in women under the age of 61 with early stage cancer. Most importantly, the story does not adequately describe the strength of the available evidence. Specifically, the story does not state that there is no evidence that the test, in combination with treatment, results in better outcomes, such as decreased mortality or improved quality of life. To date, the test has only been shown to predict whether or not the cancer is likely to recur.

"The story does not mention the cost of the test. The story does state that there was a 23% chance of recurrence in women who were labeled ""high risk"" and a 5% chance of recurrence in women who were labeled ""low risk."" The story should have also stated that we still don't know whether this test will translate into better outcomes for the patients. The story does not mention any potential harms of the test. While the story states that the test is ""far from perfect,"" this is not adequate information on harms. The story states that the test is not 100% predictive of recurrence, so there will naturally be some women who will be incorrectly labeled as high or low risk of recurrence and make treatment decisions based on this label. This could have important implications in terms of the psychological and physical wellbeing of the patient. The story does not adequately describe the strength of the available evidence. Specifically, the story does not state that there is no evidence that the test, in combination with treatment, results in better outcomes, such as decreased mortality or improved quality of life. To date, the test has only been shown to predict whether or not the cancer is likely to recur. The story does not exaggerrate the prevalence or seriousness of breast cancer. However, the story verges on 'treatment mongering' by stating that 'one in seven women in the US will have breast cancer in their lifetime.' While this is true (although some question the framing of the statistics in this manner), according to government statistics (SEER), fewer than half of these women would be eligible for the test if it can only be used in women under the age of 61 with early stage cancer. The story does not quote any expert researchers or clinicians. The story does mention the current way in which tumors are profiled – using tumor size, location, whether cancer is present in the lymph nodes and whether they respond to hormones. However, the story could have provided more information about how this new test will fit into current practice and the advantages and disadvantages of this new approach. The story clearly states that the FDA recently approved the test. The story does not indicate when it will be available and how widely. The story clearly states that this is the first genetic test of this type. We can't be sure if the story relied on a press release as the sole source of information."

1mixture

30927

"As of October 2017, there was an ""epidemic of child abduction"" in the state of Kansas."

October 13, 2017

The web site has a long record of publishing fake news and false claims.

Dan MacGuill

In October 2017, the web site Your News Wire falsely reported that there was an “epidemic of child abduction” in the state of Kansas, a distortion of real concerns over 70 children who were in the state’s foster care system but are no longer accounted for. The Your News Wire article stated:  More than 70 children have been reported missing in the past week in north-east Kansas, as lawmakers admit the city is gripped by a “child abduction epidemic.” According to reports, the epidemic of missing children began after three sisters went missing from a northeast Kansas foster home on Aug. 26. Since then, an unprecedented number of missing children cases have been reported in recent weeks, with the situation becoming critical in the last few days. No Kansas state politician has used the term “child abduction epidemic,” however, and there is no evidence that any of the children in question have been abducted, as opposed to simply running away from foster care or attempting to return to their biological families. On 10 October 2017, the newspaper The Wichita Eagle reported that three sisters between 12 and 15 years old had gone missing from their foster home. However, local police said they believed the girls had run away. Lt. Jarrod Gill with the Tonganoxie Police Department said police learned from interviews that the girls had said they were experiencing problems at home and were planning to run away. Although it is clearly worrisome for any children to be missing and unaccompanied by adults, the Wichita Eagle article does not mention anyone involved saying that the sisters were abducted. On the same day, the Kansas City Star reported that more than 70 children were missing from the state’s foster care system, according to companies contracted to provide foster care services. KVC Kansas, one of the foster care contractors, said it has 38 missing children. The other company, Saint Francis Community Services, said 36 are missing in its system. Chad Anderson, chief clinical officer at KVC Kansas, one of the contractors, told a child welfare task force that the number of missing represented about 1 percent of the foster care population and is in line with the national average. Kansas state Secretary of Children and Families Phyllis Gilmore did express concern for the well-being of the children, particularly with regard to child trafficking, but also offered some context: “You heard everyone expressing that it is extremely concerning and worrisome, especially when many of them are teenage girls in the light of the issues surrounding human trafficking,” Gilmore said. But she also said that in many cases, children have left to go back to their biological families or other people with whom they have a relationship in order to try to not be in foster care. Gilmore referenced one task force member’s comment that at times children who have fled will call to say they are safe but won’t say where they are. “So it isn’t always a tragedy but some certainly can be and that’s why we have to take it all very seriously,” Gilmore said. In a statement on 12 October, Secretary Gilmore wrote: Allow me to share with you who the children are, we consider missing. In 92 percent of the cases, they are young people, ages 12 and older. They have been removed from the only home they know, placed in an unfamiliar setting, and they miss their families, their schools and their communities. And they are eager to find a way to get back to them. The teens are not incarcerated, or under constant watch. They are typical youth who go to school, hang out with friends and participate in activities. As parents, we expect our children to return home each day to us — their family, a home filled with love, support and rules. To a child not accustomed to these things and with a family he/she doesn’t know, it is plain to see why some runaway. An estimated 1 percent of youth in foster care run away. This corresponds with the national average. Your News Wire’s claim that there is an “epidemic of child abduction” in Kansas is false.

0false

Crime, child abduction, fake news, yournewswire

8696

Italy coronavirus deaths jump to 52, cases climb above 2,000.

March 2, 2020

The death toll from coronavirus in Italy jumped to 52 on Monday from 34 the day before and the total number of confirmed cases in Europe’s worst affected country climbed past the 2,000 mark.

Gavin Jones, Angelo Amante

The increase in deaths was the largest since the outbreak surfaced 10 days ago in the wealthy northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto. Lombardy, around Italy’s financial capital Milan, is by far with hardest hit, with 38 casualties. The virus has since spread south but the vast majority of cases remain centered on the original hotspots, with the addition of Emilia Romagna, another affluent region which borders on both Lombardy and Veneto and now has more cases than Veneto. In total, 2,036 people have tested positive in Italy, up from 1,694 on Sunday. Of these, 149 have recovered, the civil protection agency said. “What is comforting is that 50% of the 258 people who tested positive (in the last 24 hours) have no symptoms or are being looked after at home,” Angelo Borrelli, head of the agency, told reporters. In total, Italy has tested 23,345 people for the disease. The Lombardy regional government urged people over the age of 65 to remain at home, as data showed they were by far the most vulnerable to the highly contagious illness. “All those who have died (in Lombardy) are people over 65 with underlying health conditions, especially cardiovascular problems,” said Giulio Gallera, the region’s councillor responsible for welfare policy. In a worrying development, a policeman and a fireman based in Rome have also tested positive, authorities said, raising the risk of the virus spreading in the Italian capital. Cases in Rome, Italy’s largest city with 3 million people, had previously been limited to a Chinese couple on holiday and an Italian repatriated from the Chinese city of Wuhan - where the outbreak originated late last year - on a special flight and hospitalized. All three recovered. On Monday the Spallanzani infectious diseases hospital where the policeman was staying announced that his wife, two children and sister-in-law were also infected. The school attended by his son, in the nearby town of Pomezia, was closed and lessons were suspended in the university faculty at Rome’s main Sapienza university, attended by his other son. The coronavirus is taking a heavy toll on Italy’s economy, which was already teetering on the verge of recession before the outbreak, with sectors from manufacturing to tourism hit by a plunge in orders. Several international airlines including Lufthansa Delta Airlines and countries such as the Czech Republic have reduced or suspended flights to Italian cities. Milan cathedral reopened to the public on Monday but schools and universities remain closed and many companies told staff to work from home. The top of the UniCredit skyscraper in Milan was lit in red, white and green, the colors of the Italian flag, in a sign of solidarity with people hit by the virus. National statistics bureau ISTAT reported on Monday that the 2019 budget deficit came in at 1.6% of national output, the smallest fiscal gap for 12 years. The much-lower-than-expected reading potentially gives the coalition of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party more leeway to spend and borrow this year - good news with coronavirus costs soaring. Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri announced on Sunday the cabinet would this week approve 3.6 billion euros ($3.5 billion) of measures to help companies. An aid package worth 900 million euros was unveiled on Friday for the worst-impacted zones.

2true

Health News

33614

"Barack Obama ""lied"" about his father's military service during World War II."

August 2, 2010

Likewise, during an appearance in New Mexico on Memorial Day in 2008, Barack Obama made reference to an uncle of his “who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps.” Critics quickly pointed out that such a circumstance was impossible (primarily because Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet forces, not American troops) and similarly accused Senator Obama of telling a lie. But his misstatement was simply a mistake, not a lie: Barack Obama’s uncle, Charlie Payne, was in fact part of a group of American troops who helped liberate a concentration camp, but that camp was at Buchenwald, not Auschwitz.

David Mikkelson

In recent years many American voters have placed a premium on the military service experience of candidates for higher office, and candidates have often responded by making sure to highlight their military experience (or, if they themselves didn’t serve, the military experience of close relatives such as parents, children, or siblings) in their political résumés. This trend has also produced some politically awkward moments when candidates have been caught exaggerating or misstating their military experience or that of their relatives. (In June 2010, for example, Arizona governor Jan Brewer was the subject of controversy when she made a statement that many listeners interpreted to be a claim that her father had been killed in combat during World War II, although her father was actually a civilian who died in California a decade after the end of that conflict): Examples: [Collected via e-mail, August 2010] Please check this video out:Obama’s father was born in 1936!!!!! If this doesn’t upset you, nothing will. Impeach now! Gosh, do you think our President lied? Nah can’t be! Well maybe just this once. So, he says with an absolute straight face – just like he says every other lie – that his father served in World War II. His father was the youngest soldier that has ever served – he was 3 years old at the time. Certainly must have been a very distinguished warrior. What an absolute honor to have a president with a father that was a soldier warrior at the age of 3…… Everything is beginning to make sense now…….Watch the 17 second video You know that this is a super sore spot with me and many other vets….this liar will say and do anything. He’s afraid to meet one on one with anyone who opposes him. I am so sick and tired of the lies, back stabbing and socialist ways that I could just scream. I find it harder and harder to keep my Christian attitude with this man. In all my years, I have never seen a person so morally corrupt and out of touch with reality. It amazes me every day when I see he is still in power. How was America so stupid???? THIS PRESIDENT HAS NO MORALS!!! HIS MUSLIM FAITH SAYS IT’S OK TO LIE TO GET WHAT YOU WANT!!! THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS!!! INTERESTING THAT HIS FATHER WAS 3 YRS OLD WHEN WWII STARTED in 1939!!!! CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF OBAMA ADDRESSING A VETERANS GROUP!!! The video clip linked above is another claimed example of the latter phenomenon, an excerpt from a NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials) conference on 28 June 2008, during which then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, speaking on the importance of the United States’ caring for its veterans, said: You know, when I go down to south Texas and find out that veterans are having to drive two, three hours just to get into a V.A. facility because there’s no V.A. hospital down along the border areas, when you go down to Puerto Rico and find out that veterans there are not getting the same services as veterans in the 50 states, then you know we’re betraying what I think is a solemn pact that we make with our veterans. My father served in World War II. And when he came home, he got the services that he needed. And that includes, by the way, post-traumatic stress disorder. So many young people are coming back with mental health issues and because we don’t deal with them as effectively and as swiftly as we should, that’s why we’ve got homeless populations among veterans that are astronomically higher than the regular population and that’s something that we cannot accept and I’m going to need your help to make sure that we fight to make sure every veteran gets the services that they need. Critics soon seized on this statement as a deliberate falsehood, ignoring the fact that Barack Obama’s complicated family tree encompasses multiple fathers and instead focusing on but one of them and proclaiming that President Obama told a blatant lie despite knowing it would be patently obvious to anyone moderately familiar with his background (or anyone who took the simple expedient of looking up the date of his biological father’s birth). The list of Barack Obama’s fathers includes Barack Obama, Sr., his biological father; Lolo Soetoro, the Indonesia stepfather with whom Barack Obama lived for four years; and Stanley Armour Dunham, the maternal grandfather with whom Barack Obama lived in Hawaii for eight years. The latter was the person whom Barack Obama cited as the primary paternal influence in his life. Barack Obama Sr. (born 1936), was a Kenyan who came to America at the age of 23 and attended the University of Hawaii, where he met and married Stanley Ann Dunham — a marriage that produced one son, Barack Obama Jr., who is now President of the United States. However, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham separated when their son was but a small child; the former returned to Kenya to work as a government economist, while the latter embarked on another marriage with an Indonesian national named Lolo Soetoro (born 1935). Barack Obama Jr. lived with his mother and stepfather in Indonesia for four years, then from the age of ten onwards he lived with his maternal grandparents, Stanley Armour Dunham (born 1918) and Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham. Obviously Barack Obama’s biological father could not have served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, as Barack Obama Sr. was then a child living in Kenya who was but nine years old when the war ended, nor could Obama’s stepfather have served during the war, as Lolo Soetoro was then a child in Indonesia who barely turned ten the year World War II ended. However, despite the difference in generations, Stanley Dunham was the person who most functioned as a father in Barack Obama’s formative years, as Dunham helped raise and care for Barack from the age of ten onwards in Hawaii while Barack’s stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, remained in Indonesia. Clearly Barack Obama’s mention of a veteran relative who came home from World War II and “got the services he needed” was a reference to Stanley Dunham, who did in fact enlist in the military shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and served as a sergeant with the U.S. Army in Europe during the war. Either Barack Obama referred to him as his “father” because that’s the way he thinks of him, or because he simply misspoke and said “father” instead of “grandfather.”

0false

Politics Politicians, barack obama

3065

Sanders says he’ll enact national drinking water standards .

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said Tuesday that he would enact federal drinking water standards for a group of toxic chemicals that have caused widespread contamination in New Hampshire and other states.

Holly Ramer

New Hampshire recently set some of the nation’s toughest standards for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively called PFAS, but a judge temporarily blocked enforcement in November after chemical company 3M sued. The New Hampshire standard limits one chemical to a maximum of 12 parts per trillion and another to 15 parts per trillion, far lower than the 70 parts per trillion the Environmental Protection Agency has advised for the chemicals. Sanders, a Vermont senator, said instead of spending millions on lawsuits to gut clean water rules, such companies should be paying to clean up contamination. He said as president, he will create national clean water standards for PFAS and other chemicals in an effort to guarantee clean drinking water “as a human right.” “Corporate greed is threatening one of the most basic necessities of life: clean water,” he said in a statement. “Not only will we support state efforts to enforce stronger clean water laws, we are going to create federal clean water standards that force these companies to clean up their mess.” More than 700 homes in New Hampshire whose drinking water was contaminated by PFAS have been connected to new water, and the state estimates that more than 100,000 other people eventually could be affected. The contamination is the result of the chemicals leaking into groundwater from industrial facilities, as well as a former Air Force base. Studies have found potential links between high levels in the body of one form of the contaminants and a range of illnesses, including kidney cancer, increased cholesterol levels and problems in pregnancies. 3M Co., based in St. Paul, Minnesota, said in a statement Tuesday that it “supports appropriate science-based regulations of PFAS” and therefore backs “consideration of an enforceable, science-based national drinking water standard” for the toxic chemicals. “A consistent and unified federal policy based on sound science can help avoid the confusion and uncertainty of a state-by-state patchwork of regulations,” the company said. ___ Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, “Ground Game.”

https://appodcasts.com/category/ground-game/

2true

New Hampshire, Health, General News, Environment, Business, Bernie Sanders, U.S. News, Lawsuits

16922

"Judging by a recent vote, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz ""thinks it's okay for medical marijuana patients to go to federal prison."

June 10, 2014

"The ad by Americans for Safe Access says that, judging by a recent vote, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz ""thinks it's okay for medical marijuana patients to go to federal prison""-- even the elderly ALS patient shown in the ad. We can't measure what Wasserman Schultz believes in her heart, but we are able to take a closer look at what her voting record shows. She did vote against an amendment to prevent the federal government from using money to keep certain states from decriminalizing medical marijuana. And laws that could theoretically send medical marijuana users to prison remain on the books. Still, it’s an exaggeration to say that Wasserman Schultz’s vote means she wants to send ailing seniors to prison for smoking a joint. The reality is that today, even without the amendment in force, federal prosecutions of medical marijuana users are exceedingly rare. Most of the prosecutions we found involved users who were also accused of dealing marijuana. The statement contains some element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."

Amy Sherman

"If you’re a South Florida senior citizen suffering from a deadly disease and you’re hoping to ease your pain with a puff of marijuana, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, has a prescription for you: federal prison. At least that’s the impression created by a TV ad launched in June by Americans for Safe Access, a group that supports medical marijuana. The ad airing through June 10 in Broward and Miami-Dade counties attacks Wasserman Schultz for her recent vote against a medical marijuana amendment. The visuals include a photo of an elderly woman who has ALS alongside her husband, who’s wearing a veterans cap. (Here’s some separate information from PolitiFact Florida about that ALS patient, Cathy Jordan, featured in the ad.) ""Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz thinks it's okay for medical marijuana patients to go to federal prison,"" the narrator states. ""On May 30, she voted against an amendment that would respect Florida’s new laws and protect Florida’s patients. Even though 88 percent of voters support medical marijuana, why would Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz vote to send patients like this to prison? Is Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz out of touch with Florida?"" The group is running a similar TV attack against U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland. Wasserman Schultz, who chairs the Democratic National Committee, represents a large elderly population in South Florida. So an ad suggesting that she wants to send ailing seniors to federal prison packs a punch. We decided to take a look at the vote cited in the ad. The medical marijuana amendment The ad cites a vote on an amendment to H.R. 4660, an appropriations -- or funding -- bill for departments of Commerce and Justice and science agencies. The amendment, offered by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., bans the use of federal money to prevent certain states from implementing their own medical marijuana laws. The amendment states: ""None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana."" These are largely the states where some form of medical marijuana is allowed or pending -- or in the case of Florida, is on the ballot this fall. The language was designed to expire at the end of fiscal year 2015, so a similar amendment would have to be offered each year, at which point additional states considering medical marijuana laws could be added. Wasserman Schultz was one of 17 Democrats in the House to vote against the amendment, which ended up passing, 219-189, on May 30. All told, 49 Republicans and 170 Democrats supported the amendment. ""I voted against the Farr-Rohrabacher amendment because I do not believe, regardless of the issue, that it is appropriate to limit the executive branch’s ability to enforce current federal law at their discretion,"" Wasserman Schultz said in a statement, in which she also raised concerns about Florida’s ballot initiative to allow medical marijuana. (Her concerns about the ballot measure have drawn the wrath of John Morgan, a major Democratic donor who is funding that amendment.) A Wasserman Schultz spokesman sent us the statement but declined to comment specifically on the ad’s claim that she wants to send patients to prison. Though proponents of medical marijuana cast the House’s affirmative vote on the amendment as a major victory after years of efforts, it still has to clear two major hurdles: the Senate and President Barack Obama. As of June 9, the amendment had no Senate sponsor, though Americans for Safe Access said it was courting senators to introduce a similar amendment when the spending bill goes to the floor later this month. Current legal situation As PolitiFact Florida has previously written, the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use. Proponents of decriminalizing marijuana strongly disagree with that definition. The law imposes strict penalties on marijuana users, growers and sellers. A first misdemeanor offense for possession in any amount can result in a $1,000 fine and a year in prison. Meanwhile, selling cannabis is considered a felony and can send a defendant to five years of prison, or even longer, depending on the amount and the circumstances. Cultivating cannabis plants carries similar penalties, based on the volume. Even with federal law on the books prohibiting marijuana, there are reasons that users and distributors aren’t constantly being busted by the Drug Enforcement Agency amid debate in many states about loosening laws governing medical uses -- or even recreational uses -- of marijuana. The 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case Gonzales vs. Raich established that the federal government has the right to use the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to regulate homegrown marijuana, even when it’s for approved medicinal use. The case addressed whether it was proper for DEA officials to destroy Oakland, Calif., resident Angel Raich’s homegrown marijuana plants in 2002, even though California’s medical marijuana law, passed in 1996, made them legal under state law. Since then, other states have continued to shrug off federal guidelines, with voters in Colorado and Washington state going so far as to decriminalize cannabis use outright last year. This has led to a recent softening of the federal government’s stance on the drug. In 2013, U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memorandum to federal attorneys that included new guidelines focusing on cartels or other criminal organizations -- for example, distribution to minors, cultivating plants on public land, committing violence to distribute the drug or using state-regulated operations as a cover for illicit activities. Beyond that, the Justice Department said it’s content to allow state and local agencies ""to address marijuana activity through enforcement of their own narcotics laws."" Indeed, raids of growing operations have grown infrequent, and federal prosecution of individuals in those states is nearly unheard of. Some argue that the House amendment merely codifies the Cole memo or still leaves prosecutors with wiggle room. However, proponents hope it will influence the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. ""It could provide for the opening to enact legislative language that would be much more specific,"" Jeff Vanderslice, Rorhabacher’s legislative director, told PolitiFact Florida. Examples of federal prosecution We asked Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, if he could cite examples of medical marijuana patients being sent to federal prison. Hermes cited examples of marijuana busts in Montana, Michigan and California, but most of the cases involved large-scale cultivators and distributors. In some cases, prosecutors accused defendants of cultivating more plants than allowed under state law or selling for non-medical reasons. For example, Aaron Sandusky, who operated multiple dispensaries, was found guilty in 2012 of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute hundreds of pounds of marijuana. The Press Enterprise wrote that federal investigators alleged Sandusky’s company used California's medical marijuana laws as a cover for an illegal grow-and-sell operation instead of a nonprofit cultivation collective for those with a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana. He was sentenced to 10 years. Rohrabacher’s staff cited the case of Jerry Duval who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Michigan. Duval and his children were state-registered caregivers and their lawyers argued that they raised it for Duval, an organ transplant recipient. But federal prosecutors argued that they used medical marijuana as a front while peddling marijuana to non-patients. A jury found Duval, a convicted felon, and his son guilty of conspiracy to manufacture more than 100 marijuana plants, manufacturing marijuana plants with intent to distribute and maintaining a place to distribute marijuana under federal law. One case headed to trial that has drawn considerable attention involves the Kettle Falls 5, named for the defendants who grew about 70 plants in eastern Washington. Prosecutors say the five defendants were conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana and they were also charged with possessing firearms. The Safe Access group brought one codefendant, Larry Harvey, to D.C. to lobby Congress. Harvey, 70, told USA TODAY Network that he never sold any marijuana -- ""not a bit of it"" -- and the pot he grew was for personal medical use. He has a bad knee from years of long-haul trucking and his wife suffers from arthritis. Experts say prosecution permitted but rare We sent the ad to a few academic experts who study marijuana laws and asked about the likelihood of patients going to prison. ""I know of no patient-only person sent to federal prison for use of marijuana,"" Ohio State University professor Douglas Berman said. But he said the ""Kettle Falls Five"" case may be the closest, since it involves patients -- rather than distributors -- facing possible prison time. Even before states started legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational use, the federal government didn’t throw defendants in prison simply for using marijuana, Vanderbilt law Professor Robert Mikos told PolitiFact Florida. Prosecutors are focused on suppliers and distributors, he said. ""The way the ad is set up -- that the federal government is going to go after elderly people with chronic illnesses for using marijuana for medical purposes -- it’s just ridiculous,"" Mikos said. ""It never happens, and furthermore to say because someone voted a certain way on this amendment and therefore they support that (people going to prison only for using medical marijuana) is just a ridiculous stretch of logic."" That said, prosecution of patients is permitted under current federal law, said George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin. ""Even if such prosecutions rarely occur, the fact that they are possible is a deterrent for legitimate medical providers and suppliers from getting involved in the process. It also often deters banks from giving them financing."" Somin argues that while the Justice Department memo might cut back on prosecutions, it didn’t completely bar them. He added that ""this administration or a successor could reverse or modify those guidelines at any time. A new federal statute could prevent such a reversal."" Our ruling The ad by Americans for Safe Access says that, judging by a recent vote, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz ""thinks it's okay for medical marijuana patients to go to federal prison""-- even the elderly ALS patient shown in the ad. We can't measure what Wasserman Schultz believes in her heart, but we are able to take a closer look at what her voting record shows. She did vote against an amendment to prevent the federal government from using money to keep certain states from decriminalizing medical marijuana. And laws that could theoretically send medical marijuana users to prison remain on the books. Still, it’s an exaggeration to say that Wasserman Schultz’s vote means she wants to send ailing seniors to prison for smoking a joint. The reality is that today, even without the amendment in force, federal prosecutions of medical marijuana users are exceedingly rare. Most of the prosecutions we found involved users who were also accused of dealing marijuana. The statement contains some element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. CORRECTION, June 11, 2014: An earlier version mischaracterized a summary of the medical marijuana amendment. The amendment bans the use federal money to prevent certain states from implementing their own medical marijuana laws. The text above has been changed accordingly."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3nYdQ4GYoA, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2013/dec/17/pam-bondi/pam-bondi-says-medical-marijuana-illegal-under-fed/, http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20130114/california-supreme-court-may-have-final-word-on-medical-marijuana-bans, http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2014/05/30/317427925/gop-house-votes-to-leave-states-alone-on-medical-marijuana, http://www.pe.com/articles/sandusky-660981-federal-marijuana.html, http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx, http://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-medical-marijuana-grower-gets-years-in-federal-prison/article_89211f90-6ca5-11e2-aa17-001a4bcf887a.html, http://www.safeaccessnow.org/did_you_see_me_on_the_front_page_of_usa_today_today?utm_campaign=june2014_news&utm_medium=email&utm_source=americansforsafeaccess, http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2014/06/dem-donor-john-morgan-blasts-irrelevantirritant-dnc-chair-debbie-wasserman-schultz-over-rx-pot.html, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2014/h258, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/06/03/would-the-rohrabacher-farr-amendment-actually-stop-medical-marijuana-raids/, http://www.freep.com/article/20130528/NEWS06/305280108/Medical%20marijuana%20raid%20federal%20prosecutors, http://www.safeaccessnow.org/pows, http://www.volokh.com/2013/08/29/justice-department-finally-announces-response-legalization-marijuana-colorado-washington/, http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/2014/06/wasserman-schultz-statement-on-medical-marijuana.shtml, https://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf, http://www.beartoothnbc.com/news/montana/31843-medical-marijuana-provider-to-be-sentenced.html, http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-9066-the-okemos-7.html, http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/may/11/kettle-falls-5-case-tests-marijuana-laws/, http://theleafonline.com/c/politics/2014/06/congressional-victory-wont-end-raids/, http://t.monroenews.com/news/2013/oct/30/guilty-pleas-w-michigan-marijuana-case-stand/, http://www.safeaccessnow.org/, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/05/19/marijuana-washington-kettle-falls-five/9031751/, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/mar/13/john-morgan/john-morgan-says-swat-team-hooligans-arrested-medi/

0false

Criminal Justice, Drugs, Crime, Florida, Marijuana, Americans for Safe Access,

32743

The American Psychiatric Association condones pedophilia and says it is normal to be sexually attracted to children.

April 29, 2016

A representative from the American Psychiatric Association told us that the organization does not condone pedophilia, nor does it espouse the position that sexual attraction to children is normal or healthy.

Kim LaCapria

On 25 April 2016, the web site Patriot Nation published an article reporting that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) now officially condones pedophilia, and that the group had deemed it “normal” for adults to be sexually attracted to children. The article implied that growing acceptance of gay and transgender rights had created a cascade of escalating acceptance for other behaviors previously regarded as deviant: Ever since the government began its quest to “normalize” homosexuality and other perverse sexual behavior, conservatives have been saying it’s a slippery slope. After what happened at an academic conference at the University of Cambridge, it’s safe to say they were right. The “Classifying Sex: Debating DSM-5” conference featured speakers who condoned pedophilia as “natural and normal for males.” A proposal was being discussed which would essentially normalize hebephilia, the sexual preference for children in early puberty, typically 11 to 14-year-olds. The argument was made that since children are reaching puberty earlier than ever before, sex with 11 to 14-year-olds should not be considered wrong. That this was even a topic of discussion among the worlds leading psychiatrists is incredibly alarming, but the conference took matters one step further by claiming that “at least a sizable minority of normal males would like to have sex with children, and normal males are aroused by children.” Ultimately, the proposal to include hebephilia as a legitimate disorder in the new edition of the American Psychiatric Association manual was defeated, and sex offenders are thrilled. The article (which didn’t offer very many details at all) cited a January 2016 blog post about the purported academic conference where this pronouncement was made, stating that the event had occurred “last year”: These sentiments were discussed at a conference that took place last year to discuss the classification of sexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the standard international psychiatric manual used by the legal system. The conference, which was titled “Classifying Sex: Debating DSM-5″, had featured a number of speakers who spoke in favor of sex with children, which, in essence, is supporting pedophilia. That blog, in turn, referenced a 2014 article from The Telegraph, which reported on papers that had been presented at a University of Cambridge conference back in July 2013: “Paedophilic interest is natural and normal for human males,” said the presentation. “At least a sizeable minority of normal males would like to have sex with children … Normal males are aroused by children.” The statement that paedophilia is “natural and normal” was made not three decades ago but last July. It was made not in private but as one of the central claims of an academic presentation delivered, at the invitation of the organisers, to many of the key experts in the field at a conference held by the University of Cambridge. In other academic quarters, with rather fewer excuses, that lack of understanding appears to be reasserting itself. The Cambridge University conference, on July 4-5 last year, was about the classification of sexuality in the DSM, a standard international psychiatric manual used by the police and courts. It is true that the conference was for academic discussion and debate of the DSM-5 (short for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), which standardizes classifications of mental disorders in the United States, and that the DSM-IV standards were revised and updated in May 2013. However, the supposed cause-and-effect chronology implied here (by the Patriot Nation article and others) is clearly askew, as University of Cambridge event occurred two months after the American Psychiatric Association revised their classifications. It’s also true that the DSM-5 slightly adjusted their classification of pedophilia, defining it as “a sexual orientation or profession of sexual preference devoid of consummation,” and supplanting the common usage of the word with “pedophilic disorder,” and that the DSM-5 does not classify hebephilia (attraction to pubescent, rather than pre-pubescent, children) as a mental disorder. But the decision to omit the latter from the updated manual had nothing to do with either societal acceptance of LGBT issues or the 2013 Cambridge University conference.

0false

Medical, american psychiatric association, dsm-5, misleading

14297

Senate Bill 1070, simply, just mirrors federal law.

April 13, 2016

"Brewer said, ""Senate Bill 1070, simply, just mirrors federal law."" The law on the books today comes close to mirrored federal law. But that’s only because the majority of the law was tossed out by the federal courts because it conflicted with federal law. It’s an odd thing for Brewer to be bragging about. Brewer’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."

Anthony Cave

"Arizona knows a thing or two about controversial laws. As Mississippi and North Carolina deal with the fallout of passing anti-LGBTQ laws, losing out on a Bruce Springsteen show, for example, former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer reflected on a controversial Arizona immigration law in a March 28 Fox Business interview about President Barack Obama’s plan to admit 100,000 refugees by 2017. Brewer, who has endorsed Donald Trump for president, was asked about criticism that followed the former governor after she signed the 2010 Arizona measure into law. The interviewer singled out a provision in the law, that gave ""law enforcement the right to ask people to see their papers."" ""The Arizona law, Senate Bill 1070, simply, just mirrors federal law,"" Brewer said. ""What we need is the federal government to do their job, they need to secure our borders, it’s their job to protect the people."" SB 1070, signed into law by Brewer in April 2010, allows law enforcement officers to question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally. It sounded a bit of an odd response by Brewer, given that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down most of the law since then, which included provisions such as making working in the country illegally a crime. Does Arizona’s immigration law really mirror federal law? We did not hear back from Brewer’s press office. SB 1070 a shell of its former self The law on the books today is a shell of the legislation that passed in 2010. Federal courts struck down every provision of the law with the exception of Section 2(B). That section allows state and local law enforcement to ask for proof of citizenship if that person is detained on a non-immigration related offense and the officer has ""reasonable suspicion"" that the person is undocumented. Because that portion of the law was not tossed out by the courts, you can reasonably conclude that it does not conflict with federal immigration law, said Kevin Johnson, dean of the University of California, Davis School of Law. ""It does not really ‘mirror’ federal law, which delegates enforcement power to federal immigration authorities, not state and local law enforcement,"" Johnson said. But it’s close. UC Davis law professor Gabriel ""Jack"" Chin noted that there is a federal statute that allows the exchange of immigration information between the federal government and state and local police. And a 2005 Supreme Court ruling in Muehler vs. Mena found that local police can ask someone lawfully stopped for their name, date of birth or immigration status. ""It is not inaccurate to say that the state policy of gathering immigration information is consistent with federal law,"" Chin said. ""As the Supreme Court held, it is certainly possible that SB 1070 could be interpreted in ways that violate federal law, but the basic step of gathering information does not."" What about the rest of the law Brewer signed? The problem with this narrow view of Brewer’s statement is that it ignores the host of other provisions passed by the Legislature that were deemed inconsistent with federal law. SB 1070 initially included several provisions. According to Northern Arizona University criminology professor Raymond Michalowski, the law originally: 1. Made it a crime of ""trespassing"" to be undocumented in Arizona; 2. Allowed citizens to sue a local entity if they feel immigration laws are not properly enforced; 3. Made it a crime to stop your car to pick up a day laborer; 4. Made it a crime to transport an undocumented immigrant; 5. Made it a crime to work without papers and allowed state police to arrest individuals without a warrant if they believed the person was in the country illegally. All of these provisions, in the opinion of the courts, contradicted -- not mirrored -- federal law. ""Federal immigration and criminal law contains none of these provisions,"" Michalowski said. ""So the claim that SB 1070 ‘mirrors’ federal law is a fundamental misrepresentation of what that law sought to do."" Stephen Legomsky, an immigration expert and professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, said Brewer ""clearly misspoke."" SB 1070 once made it a state crime, without probation, for people who failed to carry their papers. This is still a misdemeanor at the federal level, but probation is allowed. As far as making working without papers a crime, Legomsky said Congress made that an ""authorization for removal,"" not a criminal offense. And police arresting people without a warrant they suspect are undocumented is only permitted under federal law when the person is ""likely to escape"" before a warrant is issued. It is prohibited otherwise. Again, all these provisions were stripped, with the exception of police stops. ""The Supreme Court in its decision over SB 1070 indicated that it did not believe that the statute mirrored the federal law, and in fact, even if it did, it felt that it was improper for the state to engage in the activity that they wanted to do under that statute,"" said Evelyn Cruz, Arizona State University’s Immigration Clinic Director. Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in the SB 1070 case makes this clear: ""Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law,"" he wrote. Our ruling Brewer said, ""Senate Bill 1070, simply, just mirrors federal law."" The law on the books today comes close to mirrored federal law. But that’s only because the majority of the law was tossed out by the federal courts because it conflicted with federal law. It’s an odd thing for Brewer to be bragging about. Brewer’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2012/06/courts-strikes-down-much-of-arizona-immigration-law/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-administration-to-expand-number-of-refugees-admitted-to-us/2016/01/13/35613e74-ba0b-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html, https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1423.ZO.html, http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/sb-1070-immigration-law-update-activists-want-new-law-to-curb-racial-profiling, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/08/bruce-springsteen-cancels-n-c-show-to-protest-bathroom-law/, http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-182b5e1.pdf, https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4820516899001/jan-brewer-its-outrageous-what-the-president-is-doing-to-our-country/?#sp=show-clips

0false

Arizona, Immigration, Jan Brewer,

15243

Peachtree and Pine is one of the leading sites for tuberculosis in the nation.

August 19, 2015

"Mayor Kasim Reed said ""Peachtree and Pine is one of the leading sites for tuberculosis in the nation."" Thirty cases of a medicine-resistant strain of TB in eight states have been traced back to the shelter at Peachtree and Pine. The shelter also had a large share of the cases in a recent TB outbreak in Fulton County and four TB deaths, according to state data. CDC officials clearly believe it’s a concern, but a leading tuberculosis expert says there’s a dearth of comparative data."

Nancy Badertscher

"Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has made no secret of wanting to close the homeless shelter at Peachtree and Pine streets. Reed, who has been active in downtown’s post-Recession resurgence, says he’ll push for the city to acquire the property through eminent domain and turn it into a police precinct and fire station. Health concerns are a major reason for closing the Peachtree-Pines shelter, Reed said during a lunchtime speech to Atlanta’s Commerce Club on Tuesday, Aug. 11. ""Peachtree and Pine is one of the leading sites for tuberculosis in the nation,"" he told the crowd. Reed said top officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently asked to meet with him and ""laid out how tuberculosis cases, not in Georgia, but across America, are being traced back to Peachtree and Pine."" Could Peachtree-Pine, billed as the largest homeless shelter in the Southeast, be a leading site for tuberculosis in the nation? PolitiFact decided to do some checking. First a little background. The homeless are prime candidates for tuberculosis because they typically have greater exposure to cold weather, are in crowded conditions when they stay in shelters and lack proper nutrition and medical care. That means shelters, such as Peachtree-Pine, have to be vigilant to avoid becoming breeding grounds for TB, which is spread person to person through the air and caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB normally attacks the lungs, but also can strike the kidney, spine, brain or another body part. In most cases, tuberculosis is treatable and curable, although people can die if they don’t receive the proper treatment. Most people live with the bacteria, or latent TB infection, without feeling sick or showing symptoms. In 2014, 9,412 new tuberculosis cases were reported in the U.S., 334 in Georgia, according to the CDC. A new drug-resistant strain of TB was discovered in 2008 at the shelter at Peachtree and Pine, which is run by the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless. The strain was labeled G05625 TB by the CDC. The research To fact check Reed’s statement, we reached out to Fulton County government, the CDC, the mayor’s office and the Georgia Department of Public Health, as well as shelter management. Anita Beaty, Peachtree-Pine’s executive director, rejects Reed’s assessment of the shelter and says it is ""100 percent compliant"" with CDC protocol for spotting, treating and avoiding the spread of TB. She said Reed and the business community have conspired for years to force the shelter to close so they can take over its prime location, just south of Midtown and in sight of the Fox Theatre. Tuberculosis has been a worry at all Atlanta and Fulton County shelters, not just Peachtree-Pine, for years. But alarm bells apparently really started going off after an uptick in TB cases last year. ""At a time when the incidents of tuberculosis has been declining across the metropolitan Atlanta area and the rest of Georgia, it has actually increased in Fulton County,"" Brenda Fitzgerald, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, wrote Fulton County Commission Chair John Eaves in April. A month later, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were sitting down for the first of two meetings with Reed about the ongoing TB problem generally, and Peachtree-Pine specifically. ""Our inability to control (the Peachtree-Pine) outbreak has led to infections in multiple other states,"" Philip A. LoBue and Jonathan Mermin, doctors with the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, wrote Reed after they met in May. Based on interviews, data and documents that PolitiFact reviewed, here’s a summary of the major points. -- Since 2008, new cases of the drug-resistant strain of TB that originated at the Peachtree-Pine shelter have turned up in metro Atlanta and Georgia as well as eight other states -- Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. (Genotype evidence, similar to a fingerprint, exists for every strain of TB, and that’s how every new case of G05625 in the state and nation can be traced to the Peachtree-Pine shelter. Similarly, that’s how the Ebola outbreak in west Africa in 201, was traced back to a 2-year-old from a small village in Guinea who died in 2013 and who became known around the world as Patient Zero.) -- At Fulton County’s four shelters, the number of TB cases rose by 230 percent, from 13 in 2013 to 43 in 2014. Twenty-two of the 43 cases, or slightly more than 50 percent, were at Peachtree-Pine. (The CDC defines a large outbreak as being 10 or more cases, CDC spokesman Brian Katzowitz said.) -- The number of drug-resistant G05625 tuberculosis cases, those linked to Peachtree-Pine, grew 10-fold from 2013 to 2014, from two to 23. -- Fulton County accounted for 82 percent of all cases of that strain of tuberculosis in Georgia and 69 percent of all cases of the strain in the United States. -- At least four clients of the Peachtree-Pine shelter, according to Fitzgerald, have died of tuberculosis since early 2014. In her letter to Eaves, Fitzgerald said, public health researchers identified the homeless shelter at the corner of Peachtree and Pine Streets ""as a major source of the current outbreak. ""If it [tuberculosis]  gains a foothold in the community, then the cost in healthcare and human suffering will be incalculable,"" she wrote. Jessica A. Corbitt-Dominguez, director of external affairs for Fulton County government, said Fulton health workers, in conjunction with officials from the Georgia Department of Public Health and CDC, responded to the outbreak with an aggressive campaign of education, testing and treatment. Anyone with active disease was relocated from the shelters while in treatment under the supervision of Fulton Health and Wellness. The county set up special teams that make daily visits to shelters to perform screenings and administer medicines, Corbitt-Dominguez said. In June 2015, the county health department also signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with four shelters, including Peachtree and Pine. This was considered a significant step since a lack of administrative controls and protocols is considered a likely contributor to the spread of TB. As of this month, the number of 2015 confirmed TB cases at Fulton homeless shelters is 13, Corbitt-Dominguez said. Beaty’s attorney last week provided reporters with a certificate showing the shelter is fully in compliance with the CDC’s TB protocol, and Beaty told PolitiFact ""it’s ludicrous to think we wouldn’t be on it."" Corbitt-Dominguez confirmed that the shelter has never been cited by the county, although Eaves has said there have been concerns about the shelter’s TB safeguards. In a letter to Fitzgerald, he wrote that the shelter’s administration ""routinely exhibits sub-optimal administration of the procedures required to control the spread of this disease."" Beaty said Reed’s statement makes clear he ""is just not getting good information."" ""We have been cleared by Fulton County, which is on site every day to monitor. And we’ve got 100 percent clearance from the CDC’s requirements,"" she said. ""We resent those easy headlines that have no basis in fact and that marginalize homeless people in our facilities."" Tom Andrews, president of the non-profit Mercy Care, which operates 14 clinics, some associated with shelters, said the strain of TB originating at Peachtree-Pine has to be a major concern. Since it is medicine-resistant, it requires a more expensive and longer treatment program, Andrews said. The CDC estimates that the costs of treating a person with TB increases with greater resistance. Direct costs in 2010 U.S. dollars average from $17,000 to treat drug-susceptible TB to $430,000 to treat the most drug-resistant form, according to the agency’s website. So is it a national leader in TB? We asked the mayor’s office for evidence to back up Reed’s statement that Peachtree-Pine ""is one of the leading sites for tuberculosis in the nation."" Anne Torres, his spokeswoman, provided us copies of the letters from Fitzgerald and the doctors, as well as a highly technical report from the CDC. We reached out to the CDC. A spokesperson said agency officials would not comment on the mayor’s public statements. CDC officials also would not identify the states where they said the TB strain from Peachtree-Pine had spread. We were able to obtain that list from the Georgia Department of Public Health, as well as the number of cases of G05625 strain TB in each state from 2008 to 2014. The most were in Florida (14), followed by California (8) and North Carolina and Alabama (2 each). New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and South Carolina each reported one case in the five years -- for a total of 30 in the eight states in five years. But do 30 cases over a several-year period raise Peachtree-Pine to a leading site of TB in the nation? We posed that question to Philip Hopewell, a leading tuberculosis expert and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. ""Peachtree and Pine is clearly  a major site for transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and it may be one of the leading sites in the nation,"" Hopewell said. ""However, there are not data from every such facility in the country,"" he added. ""To say that the Atlanta facility is one of the leading sites in the country -- it probably is -- implies that there are data with which to compare the Atlanta facility. Thus, strictly speaking, what he said can't be backed with evidence. Even so, I wouldn't fault the mayor for saying this."" Our ruling Mayor Kasim Reed said ""Peachtree and Pine is one of the leading sites for tuberculosis in the nation."" Thirty cases of a medicine-resistant strain of TB in eight states have been traced back to the shelter at Peachtree and Pine. The shelter also had a large share of the cases in a recent TB outbreak in Fulton County and four TB deaths, according to state data. CDC officials clearly believe it’s a concern, but a leading tuberculosis expert says there’s a dearth of comparative data."

http://clatl.com/atlanta/cdc-investigated-peachtree-pine-turberculosis-outbreak-in-2009/Content?oid=2809278, https://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/reed-wants-to-seize-peachtree-pine-by-eminent-doma/nnHm3/#34d554cb.257170.735824, http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2014/05/16/fulton-investigating-tb-outbreak-at-three-atlanta-homeless-shelters, http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/news/documents/2015/08/18/lettertoshelter.pdf, http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/news/documents/2015/08/18/TB_outbreak_in_fulton_co_peachtree-pine_shelter.pdf, http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/news/documents/2015/08/18/Letter_to_Mayor_Kasim_Reed_May_2015_2.pdf, http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2011/11/04/new-tb-cases-reported-at-peachtree-pine-shelter

2true

Georgia, Public Health, Kasim Reed,

944

Sydney's city council reviews use of Bayer's Roundup weed killer amid cancer fears.

July 5, 2019

Sydney’s city council said on Friday it was reviewing its weed management, which included the use of Bayer AG’s Roundup, after other councils in Australia began cutting ties with the product amid concerns about possible links to cancer.

Ron Kaye

The council, which covers the city’s business center, was “reviewing (its) weed management methods and investigating other technologies”, a spokeswoman told Reuters in an email, a day after a strike by workers at a nearby council pressured it into trialing an alternative weedkiller. The City of Sydney council currently used Roundup “as a last resort ... when non-pesticide methods such as hand-weeding and mulching have been ineffective”, and began testing alternative products in late 2018, the spokeswoman added. Bayer says Roundup is safe and backed by several regulatory bodies, despite research that found its main ingredient glyphosate was probably carcinogenic. The German company has been hit by massive compensation payouts in the United States this year, over claims its product caused cancer, which have seen its shareprice to plummet. The prospect of Sydney council rethinking its ties to Roundup, a flagship product of U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto Co until a buyout from Bayer last year, shows the pressure that grassroots campaigns and lawsuits are putting on governments about the product even as regulators declare it safe. “Because there’s a lot of emotion around it, local agencies may be moved to make a decision that’s made based on placating the general public rather than the available science,” said Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist at University of Adelaide. “We should be making decisions on safety based on actual science, not based on our fear or dismay of megacorporations.” Earlier this week, Blacktown City Council in Sydney’s west agreed to trial an alternative to Roundup after a worker strike over the product left 40,000 garbage bins unemptied. Another four councils around Sydney previously quit using Roundup over possible links to cancer. Last month, an Australian gardener filed the country’s first lawsuit against Bayer, accusing Monsanto of causing him harm from exposure to glyphosate via decades of using Roundup. A Bayer spokesman said the company “encourages constructive dialogue with our stakeholders to build a broader trust in science”. The company had published “extensive research which supports our products’ safety” and was “committed to ensuring our customers continue to have access to these critical products as part of their sustainable agricultural activities”.

2true

Health News

10933

Drugs Show Promise Slowing Advanced Melanoma

June 6, 2011

The story made strong, clear attempts to report in a restrained manner, using terms/phrases such as: “notable progress” “do not cure” “might add two to several moths to expected lifespans” “To be sure, more than half of patients with metastatic melanoma would not be helped all that much by either drug.”  Stories about cancer – perhaps especially melanoma because of its treatment challenges – should balance promise with realistic context. This story did a better job of that than the competitors’ efforts we reviewed.

The significant costs of both drugs were mentioned. Nice job. Good job describing the benefits reported in the two drug studies. The two papers present a bewildering array of statistics. This story did a nice job distilling the information into a couple of very understandable sentences. Good job explaining signifcant potential harms of both drugs – something competitors didn’t do at all. Nice job, including linking (in the online version) to the papers in the New England Journal of Medicine. No disease-mongering of melanoma. Several independent sources cited. The story adequately explained the comparisons between both new drugs and the older dacarbazine chemo drug. Vemurafenib was described as experimental and as “expected to be approved by the FDA within a few months.”  Ipilimumab was explained to be approved in March and already on the market. The relative novelty of both drugs was well explained. It’s clear that the story did not rely on a news release.

2true

Cancer,New York Times

9949

Firm develops magnetic-pulse treatment for major depression

June 8, 2011

We love all the cost information in this detailed and fairly well reported story. This makes good sense for a business story, and we’d like to see more financial information in other health-related pieces. We wish, though, that the same attention to detail had been given to the evidence behind some of the therapeutic claims being made in the story and that the story had relied less heavily on sources connected to the medical device industry. Clinical depression can break a person’s will and leave them feeling isolated and desperate. Drugs have become the dominant treatment, but they also bring with them side effects. A non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical treatment option will surely attract a lot of people with depression looking for alternatives. This is why stories about devices like this need to carefully break down the evidence, the benefits, and the harms and use independent sources to help readers understand whether the device would be right for them.

This is one of the highlights of the story. It goes into good detail on costs. It says, for example, “The cost varies across the country, but is generally about $350 per session. Most patients undergo 20 to 30 sessions, putting the cost at between $7,000 and $10,500.” Most importantly, up high in the story, it explains that the high-cost procedure, “is not yet covered by insurance, and may not work for many patients.” Like the harms, the benefits are mentioned in more of a passing way and no hard numbers are given. Because there are so many broad claims of superior efficacy that go unchallenged One of the statements – “works better than sham treatments to reduce depression” – seems to beg for some kind of explanation of whether “better than sham treatment” is the standard we’re looking for with such an expensive technology. This is a mixed bag. Early in the story, in one place it mentions “few apparent side effects” but mentions two sentences later “a slight risk of seizures.”  How slight is slight? Why not quantify. A full 17 paragraphs later, the story says, “Side effects of the treatment include temporary headaches (which were reported by half the patients in one study) and slight discomfort during the actual treatment (reported by a third).” The lack of context about how many patients reported these side effects is an important missing piece. We will give it a pass here, though, for mentioning harms up high and throughout, albeit clumsily. There are a number of blanket statements made in this piece that go unchallenged. The first is the quote above from Neuronetics CEO who calls the device a “safer and more durable treatment.” Where is the evidence for that? Safer than what? And more durable than drugs, talk therapy, biofeedback? Then, a physician who was paid to run a clinical trial for the device said, “We’ve been pretty satisfied with the results….As a treatment, it has been very effective in major depression, which is where it has FDA approval.” We would have liked to have seen some deeper analysis of the device’s safety and its efficacy. At a minimum, one of the published trials should have been more critically analyzed. Also, it should have been noted whether anyone not connected to the device maker had independently studied the device. The story does not engage in disease-mongering. It explains that the device is intended for a narrow audience. “The therapy, which carries a slight risk of seizures, is meant for patients with major treatment-resistant depression who do not respond to at least one medication.” Save for Marie Duffy, the patient with depression in the lead anecdote, there is not a single independent source in the story. The story does point out some of the conflicts, but it does not note them all. Dr. Robert Howland, for example, according to this disclosure (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871609003913) has received funding from Northstar Neuroscience, which had attempted to create a similar technology to the NeuroStar. (http://seattletrademarklawyer.com/blog/2007/7/12/northstar-neuroscience-and-neuronetics-settle-dispute-over-n.html) There’s a great paragraph in the story that packs a lot of information into a small space. It says, “The new treatment is not a panacea. One study found that, of patients who failed to benefit from one antidepressant medication, just one-third responded adequately to a second. TMS produced a similar response rate (as does talk therapy, according to other studies), although the effect was described as greater.” This tells readers that medication, the device in question and talk therapy all have produced similar results. We wish more stories pulled together the available evidence in an easy to understand way. The story explains that “More than 4,000 patients have received NeuroStar treatment since its 2008 debut.” And it offers a website that lists where the technology is now offered. The novelty of the device is not established, despite some of the cheerleading statements from the venture capitalists and the researchers. The story goes well beyond any news release.

1mixture

Depression,Philadelphia Inquirer

3536

Tennessee reports 49 cases of lung injury linked to vaping.

Tennessee health officials say they have received 49 cases of serious lung injury in people who use electronic cigarettes or other vaping devices.

The Department of Health said Monday that no single product has been linked to the cases and the specific ingredient causing the lung injuries remains unknown. The state is recommending Tennesseans refrain from using vaping products as the investigation is ongoing. The CDC reported earlier this month that the number of vaping-related illnesses in the U.S. has reached about 1,300, with at least 26 deaths. Most who got sick said they vaped products containing THC, the marijuana ingredient that causes a high, but others said they vaped only nicotine. The CDC is advising Americans to refrain from using any vaping products.

https://www.tn.gov/health/news/2019/10/14/tdh-statement-on-outbreak-of-vaping-associated-lung-injury.html

2true

Health, General News, Tennessee, Vaping, Injuries

9929

Common dementia drug found to improve Parkinson's symptoms

January 26, 2016

This public relations news release describes the results of a small, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that suggests rivastigmine, a drug commonly prescribed to Alzheimer’s patients, might also be useful in reducing the risk of falls in people with Parkinson’s disease. The drug is a cholinesterase inhibitor which binds to and inactivates the enzyme acetylcholinesterase.The drug is believed to work by preventing the loss of acetylcholine, a chemical associated with concentration. Because the study was small with just 130 patient volunteers, it is too early to draw a conclusion about the drug’s benefit to people with Parkinson’s. While the idea and the results are quite interesting and novel, there is some unjustified hype in the news release. Parkinson’s disease patients are prone to falls due to the disease’s hallmark tremors, slowness in gait and muscle rigidity. Falls are a frequent complication of Parkinson’s because of their potentially serious consequences (bone fractures, need for surgery, hospitalizations and even death). Fall prevention, therefore, is one of the main goals in managing this condition. If researchers can prove in a larger study that an existing drug can safely and effectively reduce the risk of falls among Parkinson’s disease patients it could improve their quality of life. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimates that at least 500,000 American’s have Parkinson’s disease, with about 50,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In the UK, where the study was conducted, about 127,000 currently live with Parkinson’s.

Kathlyn Stone,Ranit Mishori, MD, MHS, FAAFP,Kevin Lomangino

The release doesn’t mention the drug’s cost but we won’t dock points for that omission since the release is from the UK where cost would be less of a concern for readers than it is in the U.S. This drug is common enough in the United States and is available in generic form. The benefits are vaguely described in the release as being a 45% reduced risk in falling and becoming “considerably steadier when walking.”  We’d like to see more quantification of the benefits, and more clarity, particularly an explanation of what “considerably” actually means. Did the researchers measure steadiness — there are different tools for the measurement of postural and motor steadiness — or did they just report the number of falls? In addition, does the 45% mean that 58 of the 130 patients taking part didn’t experience falls during the 8-month study period but that the other 55% (71 volunteers) continued to experience falls? The release isn’t clear about what a 45% reduced risk means and what the actual numbers of falls were in each group. The release doesn’t mention any harms or side effects but some commonly reported adverse events associated with rivastigmine include dizziness and nausea. It can also cause drowsiness and fatigue which in some patients might actually increase the risk of falling. In addition, this drug has potential interactions with commonly prescribed drugs for elderly patients (such as aspirin, some beta blockers, NSAIDs, and medications for urinary incontinence, among others). This is noteworthy because Parkinson’s disease patients tend to be on multiple medications, increasing the likelihood of falls and of possible drug interactions. The study is described as a randomized trial involving only Parkinson’s patients that had taken a fall within the past year. Half the group was given rivastigmine and half were given placebo over eight months. The researchers would have been better served if the news release had noted that the study was randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled — the highest level of rigor in clinical trials. No disease mongering here. The release states that the study was funded by the Parkinson’s UK organization. When we looked at the published study we noted that the second author describes a conflict of interest with a company that manufactures fall risk assessment tools: “SRL declares that the FallScreen fall risk assessment tool is commercially available through Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA); any profits from sales of the assessment are shared equally between the inventor (SRL), the falls and balance research group at NeuRA, and the NeuRA central fund. All other authors declare no competing interests.”  In addition, the charity’s website states that about 0.5% of its income comes from pharmaceutical companies but that “Our industry supporters don’t have any input into the content of our information.” While not critical, because these connections may not have any relationship to the pharmacological intervention, it would have been nice to have that spelled out. While there do not appear to be any pharmacological treatments specifically for preventing falls in Parkinson’s patients, there are non-pharmacological approaches to fall prevention including certain exercises, making adjustments to home environments, modification of medications and multi-pharmacy, walking aids, and more. The release does not mention these. In addition, the drug amantadine (aka Symmetrel) has been used to address muscle rigidity (which can lead to falls) in Parkinson’s disease patients. The release notes that the drug is already available as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease patients. It’s stated in the release that this is the first study to show that rivastigmine can improve movement in Parkinson’s patients. According to the lead investigator, “rivastigmine works to treat dementia by preventing the breakdown of acetylcholine, however our study shows for the first time that it can also improve regularity of walking, speed, and balance.” Parkinson’s is widely known to be associated with dopamine anomalies, and the idea that other neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine, can directly affect parkinsonism symptoms, is novel. Most other neurotransmitter drugs in Parkinson’s work to modify or increase the effects of dopamine and have no direct effects on the specific symptoms of Parkinson’s. The study itself states that this was “the first randomised controlled trial to examine the effect of rivastigmine on gait stability and falls in Parkinson’s disease.” The lead investigator of the research, one of two medical professionals quoted in the release, goes overboard in calling the study findings “a real breakthrough in reducing the risk of falls for people with Parkinson’s.” Parkinson’s UK’s research director – as well as the study itself — takes a more measured approach in summarizing the study’s impact. Dr. Arthur Roach is quoted in the release saying the study shows “there may be” existing drugs that can help prevent falls and that the research “takes us a step closer to improving quality of life and finding better treatment’s for people with Parkinson’s.” That’s a much more measured and accurate description than calling it this small and preliminary study a “breakthrough.” It also seems inappropriate to bring a patient testimonial into the mix as this release does. It quotes a patient who has Parkinson’s who experienced a fall who says the potential to find a treatment that prevents falls would allow her to have surgery for a fractured hip and give her confidence to go shopping without having to “constantly rely on the goodness of strangers to pick me up when I fall.” Also, the actual title of this study, “Rivastigmine for gait stability in patients with Parkinson’s (ReSPonD): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial” clearly mentions that this is preliminary, but including the ‘phase 2 trial’ in the title. This is not mentioned anywhere in the release and may lead readers to believe this process is farther along than it really is.

1mixture

Independent research center news release

34665

Drivers in China commonly intentionally kill pedestrians in hit-and-run accidents.

September 11, 2015

Do drivers in China commonly intentionally kill pedestrians in hit-and-run accidents?

Kim LaCapria

On 4 September 2015, Slate published a controversial article titled “Driven to Kill: Why Drivers in China Intentionally Kill the Pedestrians They Hit.” The piece was written by Geoffrey Sant, who teaches at Fordham Law School and serves on the board of the New York Chinese Cultural Center. Sant’s article described a purportedly common phenomenon in China of drivers deliberately and repeatedly driving over pedestrians after accidentally striking them with vehicles. According to Sant, this phenomenon is spurred by that country’s laws, which create a perverse incentive for citizens to kill other persons rather than gravely injure them (and become financially liable for their ongoing care): It seems like a crazy urban legend: In China, drivers who have injured pedestrians will sometimes then try to kill them. And yet not only is it true, it’s fairly common; security cameras have regularly captured drivers driving back and forth on top of victims to make sure that they are dead. The Chinese language even has an adage for the phenomenon: “It is better to hit to kill than to hit and injure.” “Double-hit cases” have been around for decades. I first heard of the “hit-to-kill” phenomenon in Taiwan in the mid-1990s when I was working there as an English teacher. A fellow teacher would drive us to classes. After one near-miss of a motorcyclist, he said, “If I hit someone, I’ll hit him again and make sure he’s dead.” Enjoying my shock, he explained that in Taiwan, if you cripple a man, you pay for the injured person’s care for a lifetime. But if you kill the person, you “only have to pay once, like a burial fee.” He insisted he was serious—and that this was common. The article appeared to draw rather presumptive, definitive conclusions from a series of possibly unrelated incidents, primarily based upon assumptions about scenes captured in CCTV footage. Starting with offhand comments made to him by a friend in the 1990s, the author interprets admittedly upsetting video footage through the lens of something a single individual (whom Sant described as “enjoying” his shock) had told him during a drive to work several years earlier. By way of proof, he offered an example of the “hit to kill trend” from 2008: This 2008 television report features security camera footage of a dusty white Passat reversing at high speed and smashing into a 64-year-old grandmother. The Passat’s back wheels bounce up over her head and body. The driver, Zhao Xiao Cheng, stops the car for a moment then hits the gas, causing his front wheels to roll over the woman. Then Zhao shifts into drive, wheels grinding the woman into the pavement. Zhao is not done. Twice more he shifts back and forth between drive and reverse, each time thudding over the grandmother’s body. He then speeds away from her corpse. Incredibly, Zhao was found not guilty of intentional homicide. Accepting Zhao’s claim that he thought he was driving over a trash bag, the court of Taizhou in Zhejiang province sentenced him to just three years in prison for “negligence.” Zhao’s case was unusual only in that it was caught on video. As the television anchor noted, “You can see online an endless stream of stories talking about cases similar to this one.” Video footage to which the article linked did not appear to be operational, and we were unable to locate any other copies of the clip. Nevertheless, the passage above illuminated a key weakness of the article: while the video footage may have accurately reflected a driver’s running over a pedestrian several times, security camera footage doesn’t give any insight as to what the driver might have been thinking, feeling, or even intending during a fatal traffic incident. It’s not uncommon for drivers involved in accidents, especially those in which they cause damage to other pedestrians or property, to panic and attempt to extricate their vehicles, thereby causing much more damage than the initial collisions did. Thus it can be quite difficult to definitively determine, from a video clip alone, that the strategy behind a driver’s actions in an accident was governed by a cool-headed desire to avoid higher legal damages rather than by panic, adrenaline, or intoxication. Sant’s article opened with an anecdote in which “a BMW racing through a fruit market in Foshan in China’s Guangdong province knocked down a 2-year-old girl and rolled over her head,” and Sant later forwarded us a news account of the described incident, which occurred on 20 April 2015. Although that accident involved a motorist’s striking a pedestrian child numerous times with her vehicle, the article neither states nor implied that the driver (who was unlicensed and therefore presumably inexperienced) intended to kill the child. Moreover, the little girl who was struck wasn’t killed in the accident (although she did later die of her injuries). The article’s links led almost exclusively to Chinese-language video sites, making their content difficult to independently check or examine in any sort of useful context. One link claimed that “a woman was caught on video repeatedly driving over an old man who had slipped in the snow” in January 2015, but that clip captured an incident that took place in Russia, not China, and was widely reported in western news articles as such. The Slate article cited six instances of purportedly deliberate vehicular killings captured on video, at least two of which were apparently either misrepresented or unsupported by citation. As well, even the viewable videos didn’t demonstrably depict heartless drivers murdering pedestrians solely to avoid hefty legal damages: viewers could only discern that they chronicled incidents of drivers’ striking pedestrians multiple times during the same accident, for reasons that could only be assumed or guessed. And even if the incidents depicted were proven to represent what was claimed in the Slate article, they would constitute six examples taking place over roughly the span of a decade, or less than one per year in a country with a population of 1.4 billion people — hardly what one would categorize as a “common” phenomenon. Some Chinese-language editorials have referenced or decried the supposed phenomenon “hit-to-kill” over the years, noting that “The saying ‘In traffic accidents, it is better to hit to kill than hit and injure’ is quite popular among some drivers” and asserting that “recently a number of incidents have occurred in which drivers were misled by this saying, and after hitting someone in traffic accidents they went ahead and killed those persons.” But such items are essentially reports of rumors, not objective evidence that the phenomenon is actually taking place. Editorials are often quick to decry purportedly common social ills that are in fact rare or non-existent (e.g., we deal with spurious warnings about “new drugs” and children’s sexual games several times a year); and we haven’t yet found any articles in which Chinese drivers admitted to intentional killings of pedestrians. And the legal maxim that it’s better (from a liability standpoint) to kill someone rather than merely injure or wound them is common in many parts of the world (including the U.S.), so public knowledge or repetition of such a notion isn’t evidence in itself that people are commonly acting on it. The one piece of objective evidence that might support the “hit-to-kill” hypothesis is a much greater incidence of pedestrian deaths in vehicular accidents in China than elsewhere; but even Sant acknowledged there are other (more likely) explanations for that phenomenon: China does not keep statistics on hit-to-kill incidents (or allegations), but statistics on traffic accidents are quite interesting. Xinhua News Agency has reported that in the PRC, there is a four-to-one ratio of traffic accidents resulting in injury versus traffic accidents resulting in death. In the United States, the ratio is approximately 70 to 1. This means that traffic accidents are vastly more likely to result in death in China than in the United States. To be clear, I think that the primary reasons for this disparity include: less seatbelt use in the PRC; more drunk driving in the PRC; more dangerous driving in the PRC. Hit-to-kill driving is far less significant, in my opinion, than these other factors. Nevertheless, the fact that such a high percentage of traffic accidents result in death is extremely disconcerting. It’s not uncommon for egregious misinterpretations of Chinese life and culture to filter into mainstream Western news sources; and that problem has intensified with social media’s boundless appetite for offbeat news. Slate‘s piece on why Chinese drivers purportedly kill the pedestrians they hit proved popular on social media, but its claims were weakly supported. As one Quora user responded to a question about whether the intentional killing of pedestrians was a widespread phenomenon in China, the rumor has the urban legend-like hallmark of being localized to a number of different countries: [It is] based on an ugly and stubborn urban legend that has been floating around all over SE Asia for at least ten years — with the country changing with the location. I have heard it, several times, about Filipino drivers (here in Manila) and about Chinese Taiwan drivers (in Taipei), with friends reporting instances of the same ugly myth about Thai drivers (in Bangkok) and about Vietnamese drivers (in Hanoi).

http://bbs.tiexue.net/post2_9382615_1.html, http://now.snopes.com/2015/05/14/mom-stabs-breastfeeding-baby/, http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/china-population/, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2891246/Horrifying-moment-Russian-woman-repeatedly-runs-elderly-neighbor-scratched-car.html, http://m.snopes.com/tag/china-riding-escalators/, http://www.quora.com/Have-there-been-incidents-of-drivers-in-China-intentionally-killing-the-pedestrians-that-they-hit-Is-this-a-systemic-problem-If-so-why, http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/jenkem.asp, https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fcpc.people.com.cn%2FGB%2F64093%2F82429%2F83083%2F14717322.html&edit-text=, http://www.snopes.com/risque/school/bracelet.asp, http://fapnews.ru/68884-voditel-nissan-v-yakutii-pereehala-sosedku-razozlivshis-za-tsarapinu-na-avto/, http://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/central-european-news, http://news.southcn.com/community/content/2015-04/22/content_122720149.htm, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2015/09/why_drivers_in_china_intentionally_kill_the_pedestrians_they_hit_china_s.single.html

3unproven

Politics, china, chinese drivers, chinese drivers kill pedestrians

37585

The 1988 animated film Akira predicted the 2020 Olympics would be in Tokyo, and that a pandemic (Coronavirus) would lead to its cancellation.

February 28, 2020

Did ‘Akira’ Predict a 2020 Coronavirus Outbreak?

Kim LaCapria

On February 27 2020, a Facebook user shared the following meme about the 1988 anime classic Akira, the 2020 Olympics, and plot elements which were reportedly strangely prescient:A four-panel meme featured images on one side, text on the other. In sequence (top to bottom), it read:“Akira” is a 1988 movie about an apocalyptic event taking place months before Tokyo 2020 Olympics, showing the WHO advising Japan to postpone the Olympics because of a pandemic risk.Realizing Tokyo is hosting the Olympics in 2020.Months before the Olympics begin, coronavirus appears.The WHO is advising Japan to postpone the Olympics because of a pandemic risk.First of all, the image of the pink-haired girl is not from Akira; she is a character named Chika Fujiwara from an unrelated anime and manga series called Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, in a still that is frequently repurposed for various memes. The four claims were also something of a mixed bag, with some to do with the purported plot of Akira and others referencing world affairs as of February 2020 — namely, the spread of a novel strain of coronavirus known as COVID-19.The 1988 animated Japanese film Akira was adapted from a manga series popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The first panel of the meme referenced an apocalyptic event, but that wasn’t in the comic — which was set in 2019:On 16 July 1988, a singularity destroys Tokyo. By 2019, Tokyo is rebuilt. Known as Neo-Tokyo, it is plagued by corruption, anti-government protests, terrorism, and gang violence and is on the verge of collapse.Via the same resource, Akira‘s reference to Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympics was not a novel discovery, either. Fans of both observed the coincidence after Tokyo was chosen following a bidding process in 2013:When Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 2013 bidding process, several commentators claimed that Akira predicted the future event.Gaming site Kotaku pointed out fan interest in the parallel in 2016 and 2017, and in 2019, Yahoo contrasted the 2019 of Akira to the 2019 of the day. In January 2020, Fast Company examined the same coincidence, musing:The manga series Akira, created by Japanese Artist Katsuhiro Otomo, and first published in 1982, was set in the future: 2019. And though written long before a host city announcement was made, the backdrop for the action in Akira is eerily accurate: the fictionalized Tokyo was prepping to host the 2020 Olympics. This prediction and its relative implausibility might make you question the nature of time and space. How could Otomo have known? And while that’s a discussion for another day, the Tokyo Olympics have, in some sense, bridged space-time with the release of official posters to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic Games—including manga.On Reddit’s r/RetroFuturism, someone shared a screengrab from the Akira film as the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo approached (although we feel it is important to point out that this image does not show a scene involving the Olympics at all):The 2020 Olympics in Neo-Tokyo, according to Akira (movie, 1988) from RetroFuturismThe meme’s first panel was the longest, and it claimed:“Akira” is a 1988 movie about an apocalyptic event taking place months before Tokyo 2020 Olympics, showing the WHO advising Japan to postpone the Olympics because of a pandemic risk.The first half of the first sentence seemed to be incorrect — Akira is a 1988 movie, and it involved an apocalyptic event, but the apocalyptic event in the film took place in 1988, not 2019. In the sentence’s second half, the meme claims the World Health Organization (WHO) advised Japan to postpone the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo due to a “pandemic risk.”According to Kotaku, the second half of the sentence was both inaccurate and involved the manga, not the film adaptation:Akira certainly did predict the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The manga and ensuing anime are set against the backdrop of the impending 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It also appears that one panel in the manga refers to measures for combating a contagious disease.As pointed out on the popular Japanese gaming site Hachima Kikou, in the third volume of Akira, the following panel reads, “The WHO (World Health Organization) criticizes [Neo-Tokyo’s] epidemic countermeasures.”Rumors like the one cited above sometimes spread due to unfamiliarity with the source material, or speakers of one language relying on rumored translations of material like manga panels. Kotako explained:The Japanese word that appears in the text 伝染病 (densenbyou) can be translated as “epidemic.” (Here is another example.) Coronavirus (COVID-19) is thankfully not an epidemic as of writing, and the Japanese media has been referring to it as 感染症 (kansenshou) or “infectious disease.” … As The Japan Times, where I am a columnist, reported late last month, the Japanese government and Prime Minister Abe have been facing criticism for its response to the coronavirus. The WHO, however, hasn’t recommended the need for contingency plans for the Tokyo Olympics.Kotaku linked to a February 14 2020 Wall Street Journal article (“WHO Says It Hasn’t Advised About Altering Olympics Due to Virus”), which noted that it was not the role of World Health Organization to call off any event:The World Health Organization said [on February 14 2020] that it hasn’t advised the International Olympic Committee about whether it should change plans for the Games in Tokyo this summer because of the epidemic caused by a new coronavirus.Another element fueling the rumor about the purported threat of a pandemic in the plot of Akira involved graffiti visible in the film near a 2020 Olympics countdown sign. That sign displayed 147 days until the games began, and the graffiti read “just cancel it”:A scene from the movie “Akira,” set in 2019, shows a signboard counting down the days until the Olympics. The sign reads “147 Days Until The Games” and encourages citizens to lend their support to making the event a success. Underneath, a message in graffiti reads, “Just cancel it!”With [February 28 2020] marking exactly 147 days until the opening ceremony on July 24, and talk of the possibility of cancelling the games over the spreading coronavirus, the topic “Just Cancel it!” is now trending at the top of Japanese Twitter.Presumably, the graffiti visible in Akira was not a warning from the WHO. A February 14 2020 tweet also appeared to highlight a pane from the years of Akira manga, and possibly served as the rumor’s source due to misreading by English-language users:右上にWHO云々って書いてあってちょっとゾッとした https://t.co/oqjv2g4Fu5 pic.twitter.com/qxVOp8wI3e— [email protected]さとー (@pcworks_kidd) February 14, 2020SoraNews24.com translated the text of the newspaper seen in the manga’s panel, and provided context:In the top right corner of the scene there’re several columns of Japanese text, which look to be a public posting on the streets of Neo-Tokyo. Portions of the passage are cut off, but what can be read in the section boxed in red in @pcworks_kidd’s tweet starts with “World Health Organization’s response to infectious disease outbreak criticized.”At the time of the manga’s creation, this was probably meant to be just another piece of incidental information letting the reader know how harsh the story’s world is. But flash forward to the real 2020, and Japan is indeed dealing with the coronavirus crisis, with new cases of infection still being discovered and the first death caused by the disease inside Japan occurring last week.As the site noted, the 1980s and 1990s manga likely used the specter of a general pandemic in late 2019 to set a post-apocalyptic tone in Akira. And as indicated above, novel coronavirus or COVID-19 was neither a pandemic nor an epidemic, contrary to the claims of the original meme rumor.Revisiting the meme’s four claims one by one:“Akira” is a 1988 movie about an apocalyptic event taking place months before Tokyo 2020 Olympics, showing the WHO advising Japan to postpone the Olympics because of a pandemic risk.A mix of true and false: Akira is a 1988 movie, but the apocalyptic event in it took place in July 1988, not 2019 or 2020. Neither the film nor the manga showed the WHO advising either Japan or the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Olympics for any reason, and a pandemic risk was not a major plot point in either. However, one pane of the comic (not the film) on Twitter appeared to show a headline about a pandemic:Realizing Tokyo is hosting the Olympics in 2020.Decontextualized: Tokyo was set to host the 2020 Olympics, but that parallel was observed repeatedly after Japan won bidding in 2013 to host the event in 2020. Akira “predicting” the Olympics was old news.Months before the Olympics begin, coronavirus appears.True: Coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019.The WHO is advising Japan to postpone the Olympics because of a pandemic risk.False: On February 14 2020, the WHO denied that it advised the IOC (or, by extension, Japan) to postpone the Olympics, adding it was never the WHO’s role to approve or call off any events.A meme claiming that Akira predicted a coronavirus outbreak around the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo was misleading, possibly because of English speakers spreading rumors about source material in Japanese. It was long known that Akira had “predicted” the location of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but two random panels from years of Akira manga were used to bolster the false claim that a plot point of the film involved a pandemic and the Olympics in Akira.Retrofitting pop culture tidbits to be “predictive” remained a popular trend in memes, and like others of the sort, the “Akira predicted coronavirus” meme had a grain of truth with a lot of exaggeration piled on top of it.We have emailed Kodansha Comics, which publishes and distributes the Akira manga series in the United States, to ask for more information.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/comments/eksa28/the_2020_olympics_in_neotokyo_according_to_akira/, https://t.co/oqjv2g4Fu5, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094625/, https://www.fastcompany.com/90450684/the-2020-olympic-posters-are-here-theyll-warp-your-brain, https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Did+%27Akira%27+Predict+a+2020+Coronavirus+Outbreak%3F&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-akira-predict-a-2020-coronavirus-outbreak%2F&via=KimLaCapria, https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-akira-predict-a-2020-coronavirus-outbreak%2F, https://soranews24.com/2020/02/18/did-the-akira-manga-predict-the-coronavirus-epidemic/, https://kotaku.com/the-2020-tokyo-olympics-were-predicted-30-years-ago-by-1276381444, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216309518395474&set=a.1739175884090&type=3&theater, https://kotaku.com/the-tokyo-olympics-is-embracing-the-akira-anime-1797219571, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/coomer-meme-no-nut-november-nofap-908676/, https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/what-about-the-year-2019-did-akira-get-right-143827294.html, https://kodanshacomics.com/series/akira/, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/, https://twitter.com/pcworks_kidd/status/1228223415384829952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-akira-predict-a-2020-coronavirus-outbreak%2F, https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/comments/dq12bf/slow_process/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(manga), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(1988_film), https://kodanshacomics.com/, https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/, https://twitter.com/pcworks_kidd/status/1228223415384829952/, https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/comments/eksa28/the_2020_olympics_in_neotokyo_according_to_akira/?ref_source=embed&ref=share, https://kaguyasama-wa-kokurasetai.fandom.com/wiki/Chika_Fujiwara, https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-akira-predict-a-2020-coronavirus-outbreak%2F, https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/, https://www.wsj.com/articles/tokyo-olympics-on-track-despite-coronavirus-ioc-says-11581692354, https://t.co/qxVOp8wI3e, https://www.ezoic.com/what-is-ezoic/, https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthorfiction.com%2Fdid-akira-predict-a-2020-coronavirus-outbreak%2F, https://kaguyasama-wa-kokurasetai.fandom.com/wiki/Kaguya-sama_wa_Kokurasetai_Wikia, https://kotaku.com/its-almost-like-the-akira-manga-predicted-the-coronavir-1841739361, https://twitter.com/nobsanimemes/status/1153346094182481921?lang=en, https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/

1mixture

Fact Checks, Viral Content

13676

I opposed the only multilateral trade deal that came before the Senate while I was there.

August 12, 2016

"Clinton said, ""I opposed the only multilateral trade deal that came before the Senate while I was there."" Clinton did oppose one multilateral deal (CAFTA) and opposed another that could be characterized as a multilateral deal (the Trade Act of 2002). However, focusing only on multilateral agreements, as Clinton does, obscures her overall voting record on trade pacts while serving in the Senate. When it came to bilateral agreements, Clinton cast votes to support five of them, and she supported -- but never cast a formal vote for -- an additional three. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details."

Louis Jacobson

"During a high-profile speech on the economy in Warren, Mich., Hillary Clinton said that she would stand up for workers hurt by trade agreements -- an issue that her opponent, Donald Trump, has been hitting hard on the campaign trail. ""My message to every worker in Michigan and across America is this: I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership,"" she said. ""I oppose it now, I'll oppose it after the election, and I'll oppose it as president. As a senator, I fought to defend New York's manufacturers and steel-makers from unfair Chinese trading practices. And I opposed the only multilateral trade deal that came before the Senate while I was there, because it didn't meet my high bar."" We have already given Clinton a Full Flop for switching her view on the Trans-Pacific Partnership from supportive to opposed. Here, we’ll look at whether Clinton is correct to say that she ""opposed the only multilateral trade deal that came before the Senate while I was there."" The statement glosses over the different types of trade agreements that exist and Clinton's past support for them. Clinton’s trade record As we have previously noted, Clinton’s views on trade have zigzagged somewhat over the years. ""Some people are generally pro-trade or anti-trade. She’s case-by-case on trade,"" said Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, to the Washington Post in 2015. As first lady, Clinton spoke favorably in the 1990s and in the early 2000s of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, signed by President Bill Clinton. ""Creating a free trade zone in North America — the largest free trade zone in the world — would expand U.S. exports, create jobs and ensure that our economy was reaping the benefits, not the burdens, of globalization. Although unpopular with labor unions, expanding trade opportunities was an important administration goal,"" she wrote in her 2003 memoir, Living History. As a senator from New York, Clinton had the opportunity to vote on 10 trade deals. She voted no on the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) and a deal with Andean countries. However -- and this was not reflected in Clinton’s speech -- Clinton actively voted for five bilateral trade deals during her tenure, namely Chile, Singapore, Australia, Morocco, and Oman. She also chose not to object to a unanimous consent vote on a sixth bilateral pact (Bahrain) and she said she supported two others that she never officially cast a vote on (Peru and Jordan) because they came up during her first presidential bid. Here’s a summary of the 10 significant votes taken on trade deals during Clinton’s tenure in the Senate, which is the time frame she referenced in the speech: Year Legislation Clinton’s vote 2002 Trade Act of 2002 (includes Andean countries)* Voted against** 2003 Chile-United States Voted for 2003 Singapore-United States Voted for 2004 Australia-United States Voted for 2004 Morocco-United States Voted for 2005 Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) Voted against 2005 Bahrain-United States Voted for*** 2006 Oman-United States Voted for 2007 Peru-United States Didn’t vote, supported in 2007 2007 Jordan-United States Didn’t vote, supported in 2005 * This deal is not included in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s list of free trade agreements, but contains many free trade provisions. ** This is a vote for ""fast track authority"" — allowing trade agreement to move through Congress without amendments or filibusters. *** The free trade agreement with Bahrain passed by unanimous consent, not a recorded roll call vote. So, to sum up, Clinton did indeed vote against one multilateral trade bill that came up while she was in the Senate -- CAFTA -- and voted against another bill that could be characterized as a multilateral trade deal, which was the Trade Act of 2002. Seen through this lens, these votes provide support for what she said in her speech. But just outside that lens, the picture gets murkier. Clinton has tailored her claim so narrowly that it obscures the bigger picture. Clinton explained her seemingly inconsistent positions in a 2005 speech to Congress: ""The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement included internationally recognized enforceable labor standards in the text of the agreement. Sadly, DR-CAFTA is a step backward."" While separate deals with Chile, Australia and Singapore similarly excluded labor rights standards, Clinton said she ""supported these agreements despite these concerns because I believed the agreements would not harm the average working person in those nations."" In the meantime, we’ll note that as a presidential candidate in 2008, Clinton had varying opinions on various trade deals, and she changed her position on NAFTA. She called NAFTA ""a mistake"" and opposed pending deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. She reiterated her support for free trade with Peru on the campaign trail. And as secretary of state, Clinton walked back her opposition to deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, and helped negotiate them as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Clinton has reiterated her opposition to CAFTA and flip-flopped on her support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Clinton campaign told PolitiFact that she has been clear in the past that she's supported some deals and opposed others based on whether they meet certain standards. The campaign also argued that multilateral deals have a broader impact, making those votes the most important. Our ruling Clinton said, ""I opposed the only multilateral trade deal that came before the Senate while I was there."" Clinton did oppose one multilateral deal (CAFTA) and opposed another that could be characterized as a multilateral deal (the Trade Act of 2002). However, focusing only on multilateral agreements, as Clinton does, obscures her overall voting record on trade pacts while serving in the Senate. When it came to bilateral agreements, Clinton cast votes to support five of them, and she supported -- but never cast a formal vote for -- an additional three. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details, so"

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/apr/21/barack-obama/a-distinction-without-a-difference/, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/us/politics/15debate-transcript.html?pagewanted=all, https://scout.sunlightfoundation.com/item/speech/CREC-2005-06-30-pt2-PgS7697.chunk96/sen-hillary-clinton-senate, https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2011/10/13/passage-colombia-panama-and-south-korea-trade-agreements, http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clinton-pushes-colombia-free-trade-agreement-latest-email-dump-2326068, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-usa-trade-idUSTRE73F31L20110417, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/06/17/tracking-the-many-hillary-clinton-positions-on-trade/, https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/clinton-says-yes-to-peru/?_r=0, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/12/nation/na-trade12, https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements, http://www.npr.org/2016/08/11/489563362/clinton-to-lay-out-economic-plan-in-contrast-to-trump, https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42965.pdf, https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL31356.pdf, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/feb/25/barack-obama/clinton-has-changed-on-nafta/, https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/agreements/morocco/pdfs/LAC%20Report%20for%20Singapore.pdf, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/evolution-clinton-sanders-feud-over-qualifications-n553046, http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/04/21/401123124/a-timeline-of-hillary-clintons-evolution-on-trade

1mixture

National, Trade, Voting Record, Hillary Clinton,

26008

A study “showed that over 1 million people in North Carolina have now been exposed to the virus.”

July 6, 2020

U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy, a doctor and a Republican from North Carolina, said a study “showed that over 1 million people in North Carolina have now been exposed to the virus.” Murphy based his claim on the results of an ongoing study of antibody tests. More than 10% of tests are coming back positive. But the study's lead researcher, as well as state health officials, say there's not enough data yet to estimate how many people have been exposed. Participation levels vary across the state.

Paul Specht

"A North Carolina congressman says 10% of his state’s population has been exposed to the novel coronavirus. U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy, a doctor and a Republican, made the claim in a June 23 Facebook post criticizing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. ""We also found out over the weekend that antibody testing conducted by Dr. John Sanders at Wake Forest University showed that over 1 million people in North Carolina have now been exposed to the virus. How could another institution in our state get this done so quickly when the governor’s administration could not?"" Murphy wrote. Is Murphy right that 1 million North Carolinians have been exposed to the novel coronavirus? This particular claim stands out for several reasons: 1 million people equates to roughly 10% of North Carolina’s population, which is a little more than 10 million. North Carolina’s total number of lab-reported cases hasn't hit 100,000. At the time of Murphy’s tweet, the World Health Organization reported that there were fewer than 9 million cases reported worldwide. There were fewer than 3 million cases in the United States as of July 6, according to the CDC. Some people contract the virus and never know it because they don’t experience symptoms. So they would not be counted in tallies of confirmed positive cases that are often reported. The New York Times reported in June that the number of infections in certain parts of the country could be 10 times higher than the number of reported cases, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. In his Facebook post, Murphy makes an estimate based on preliminary data in an antibody study at Wake Forest University. But the post goes too far. Murphy frames the data as conclusive, something Wake Forest researchers and state officials aren’t willing to do. The first thing to know is an antibody test isn’t the same thing as a standard coronavirus test, often referred to as a ""diagnostic"" test. Diagnostic tests tell you whether you are presently sick with the virus. These types of tests are being administered and tracked by governments around the world. Antibody tests, as the CDC points out, detect proteins in your body that help fight off infections and can provide protection against a disease that you’ve been exposed to. So an antibody test may detect if you had a past infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the CDC says the tests aren’t always definitive. Positive results can be triggered by other coronavirus strains, not just COVID-19. They also don’t show you whether you are currently infected with the virus. And scientists aren’t sure yet whether the presence of antibodies means someone is immune from the virus. So what did the Wake Forest University study say? The study, which state lawmakers sponsored in April, initially mailed tests to 1,000 North Carolinians. By mid-June, nearly 10% of the 5,000 people tested showed signs of antibodies, according to a story by WRAL. By June 30, the number of positive antibody tests had climbed to 12% from the study’s sample size of 18,000. Wake researchers hope to enroll more than 500,000 participants. And they post their updates online. Does that mean that 10% of North Carolinians have been exposed to the virus? No. The CDC has made estimates about coronavirus exposure in six select cases. But North Carolina is not one of them. Dr. John Sanders, section head of infectious diseases at Wake Forest Baptist Health and the lead researcher for the study, told PolitiFact that the study doesn’t have enough data yet to make an estimate about infections in North Carolina. ""Wake Forest Baptist Health has not extrapolated its data to cover the entire state,"" Sanders said through a spokesperson. Wake tracks the residence of participants. As of June 30, researchers had an abundance of evidence from the Winston-Salem area and far less from Wake and Mecklenburg counties — the two most populous areas of the state. ""The study's data is robust for our region but may not fully represent the state at this time,"" Sanders said. ""Our partners at Atrium Health are currently collecting data and expanding the sampling reach,"" he added. ""As we add WakeMed Health, Vidant Health and New Hanover to the study, more broad research and data will be available."" We asked North Carolina’s health department if they believe the study results represent coronavirus exposure in the state. ""No, the proportion with positive antibodies depends on who is tested and we don’t have data yet to tell us what that proportion is statewide,"" said Kelly Haight Connor, the department’s communications manager. NC’s health department is also involved in other antibody prevalence studies, Connor said. So far, those studies found fewer positive returns. ""The first of those studies found SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in samples from 6.4% of random samples from 1,780 patients collected from mid-April to mid-May at UNC hospitals (Chapel Hill, Rex, Chatham and Johnston),"" she said. ""This study is on-going; researchers are doing additional analyses and will continue testing to monitor for changes over time."" Researchers believe more people have been exposed than the case reports show. But they’re not predicting a figure as high as 10%. Paul Delamater, assistant professor in the Department of Geography at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Julie Swann, head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University, told WRAL on July 6 that they believe roughly 500,000 people could have been exposed to the virus. Murphy said a study ""showed that over 1 million people in North Carolina have now been exposed to the virus."" A Wake Forest study found that 10% of participants might have antibodies for the virus. But the leader of the study and NC health department officials say there’s not enough data yet to make an estimate about how many people have been exposed to coronavirus. Murphy extrapolated the data before it was ready."

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/testing/serology-overview.html, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html, https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/nc-legislature-will-fund-covid-19-antibody-tests/19054667/, https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/antibody-study-shows-more-people-infected-with-coronavirus-in-nc-than-numbers-show/19150903/, https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/researchers-nc-could-have-4-times-number-of-reported-coronavirus-infections/19177251/, https://www.wakehealth.edu/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Community-Research-Partnership/Updates-and-Data, https://www.facebook.com/RepGregMurphy/posts/2852409288218673?__xts__[0]=68.ARDPJwmnR2FVeesARE4iDjM0fzZpVEzoBiRNiq0-4sEqcOBP9GLJxKlzBtKF4zDCbaHF87yU3aYJvjEwcR8__GxZQ438l7tNtBno9lhTXfK0rcDN45aw_qVdy9bpvgzr74U3MCyKTgQ0VhZWsS_cze6fnVXwrDHoZ9XOlf5SHxqAaC6VXAIpfPmZEmAm6rkTlSFMUYyd3cneMu2udIjQ3_4xO86NqatGQcuKcgw5MMJNuWu5QbQ1Jh1zWwIvOTXE4TTy8U-A6XiwW_3nPLJHf681KcoSN7FxG986qFf8feGydkWLpnNK9JoIKZoZlUnziJ_Itsgi8A8rhO9vYLRHTg, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/commercial-lab-surveys.html, https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/may/05/coronavirus-testing-what-we-know-all-one-place/, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/health/coronavirus-antibodies-asymptomatic.html

0false

North Carolina, Coronavirus, Greg Murphy,

29454

Snacks marketed to children are heavily laden with ingredients that cause cancer.

October 2, 2016

If a chemical considered damaging at higher doses but safe at lower doses concerns you, consider kale — a vegetable that, in Wolfe’s words, would allow kids to safely “taste the rainbow”. It contains a naturally-occurring compound chemical called thiocyanate, which (like almost any organic compound) can be synthesized using petroleum derived base chemicals. In extremely high doses, this naturally-produced leaf compound could — unequivocally and abruptly — kill you. Is it time to start going after Big Kale?

Alex Kasprak

David Avocado Wolfe, an anti-pharma/anti-GMO conspiracy theorist and “celebrity pitchman” for as-seen-on-TV blenders and who, among other things, considers gravity a toxin, published an article in February 2016 titled “Beware: Top 5 Potentially Cancer-Causing Children’s Snacks Made from Petroleum-Based Products” which was subsequently made into a viral video: The first issue with the post is use of the term “petroleum-based”, which is simultaneously broad and misleading. The compounds Wolfe implicates are, technically speaking, petrochemical derivatives whose building blocks include one or more of the six basic organic chemicals extracted from oil or natural gas. These chemicals are necessary for most procedures involving synthetic chemistry with organic compounds. so by Wolfe’s definition nearly every organic chemical you run into on a daily basis is “petroleum-based”. Each of Wolfe’s assertions should be analyzed on its own merits, but it is worth noting that dosage is also important when it comes to the safety of any chemical. Most of the laboratory studies showing deleterious effects potentially attributed to these additives are based on absurdly high amounts of substances that could not legally found in, or practically ingested through the consumption of, food products. Claim: Pop Tarts contain TBHQ, which Wolfe claims causes “cellular dysfunction” and has been linked to tumors, loss of vision, liver enlargement, convulsions, and paralysis. UNPROVEN What’s true: TBHQ, or tert-Butylhydroquinone, is an antioxidant preservative found in Pop Tarts and many other foods. According to the NIH Toxicology Data Network, it has indeed been linked to tumors, vision loss, liver enlargement, convulsions, and paralysis in laboratory animals. What’s left out: While there have, in fact, been animal studies that report harmful effects after large doses of TBHQ, as well as a single report of vision disturbance in humans after chronic exposure to the chemical, the totality of the research on the topic provides a more complex view of the problem. Numerous studies, which the NIH Toxicology Data Network also lists, have provided data that contradict those scarier-sounding studies. The long-term health effects in humans exposed to high doses of TBQH is not a settled issue, but the long-term effects of humans exposed to it in doses legally allowed by USA and European regulatory agencies is settled — it is considered, in their eyes, safe for human consumption. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked to re-evaluate this conclusion in 2004. After reviewing all the available literature on the topic, they concluded that TBHQ is “not carcinogenic and that further genotoxicity studies are unnecessary.” Claim: “Fruit flavored snacks” (based on the picture, we assume Wolfe means Gummi Bears and their ilk) contain Red 3 (Erythrosine), which is banned for use in cosmetics and has been linked to thyroid tumors. What’s True: The EU has banned Red 3 for use only as a hair dye, but this was the result of a lack of properly filed paperwork. According to the EFSA report on Red 3 as a cosmetic product, its ban as a hair dye came about “because a safety dossier supporting its use was not provided under the European Hair Dye strategy and the substance was subsequently banned for this use.” What’s False: Any connection to cancer and tumors stems from a study on rats which scientists later determined to be a poor analogy for comparison to consumption by humans. Both the EU and the United States consider the chemical to be non-carcinogenic and free of risk at legally allowable levels. Claim: M&M’s contain Blue 1 (Brilliant Blue FCF), which can trigger the development of malignant tumors. FALSE Numerous studies have failed to find a link between Blue 1 and tumor production or cancer. Both the FDA and EFSA have ruled it safe for human consumption at legally permitted amounts. Claim: M&Ms contain Blue 2 (Indigo Carmine), which can increase hyperactivity and has been linked to brain tumors. There is a single study showing a statistically significant incidence of tumors in male rats exposed to indigo carmine. In that same study, however, the authors concluded that the statistical elevation was not biologically significant, further noting that: The overall brain-tumor incidence in this study was within the range typical for 2-yr-old CD rats. Under the conditions of this study, [Blue No. 2] did not produce evidence of any toxicity, including carcinogenicity. There has been a large volume of work dedicated to examining the link between synthetic food coloring agents and ADHD. This work was primarily popularized by Dr. Benjamin Feingold, who developed a diet, based on his own research and popular in the 1970s and 80s, that recommended removing artificial food dyes. The research itself has been called into question by numerous scientists, however, and only one rigorous and widely-accepted study has been performed on the purported link between food dye and brain tumors, and that study did not investigate Blue 2. Claim: M&Ms contain Red 40 (Allura Red AC), which can damage DNA. UNPROVEN What’s True: A few studies have shown a possible connection between Red 40 and damage to colon DNA in laboratory animals. What’s Left Out: Studies showing adverse effects are widely outnumbered by studies showing no toxic, carcinogenic, or genetic effects from Red 40. Claim: M&Ms contain Yellow 5 (Tartrazine) and Yellow 6 (Sunset Yellow FCF), which have both been linked to cancer. FALSE No laboratory studies on animals have shown any link between Yellow 5 and cancer, though it does belong to a class of chemicals that includes some carcinogens. No human studies have been performed on the compound and most world regulatory agencies consider Yellow 5 to be safe for human consumption. Countries that do ban its use do so because of its potential to cause anaphylactic shock in people with an allergy to it, not because it is a carcinogen. No human studies have been performed on Yellow 6, either. In 2014, in response to concerns based on Benjamin Feingold’s ADHD research, the EFSA conducted a fresh review of studies regarding the safety of Yellow 6. Far from banning the substance, the panel raised the allowable limit in food four-fold, stating that the chemical posed no risk to humans. The FDA shares this view. Claim: The artificial coloring in Cheetos is made from Yellow 6 (see above) as is the “cheese” flavoring, which includes methyl benzoate and ethyl methylphenidate. What’s True: Wolfe does not explicitly state what harm methyl benzoate may cause, but the NIH does consider it “mildly toxic” when ingested in high concentrations, and it is present in cheese flavoring. This is not surprising, as it is a naturally occurring compound in many cheeses. What’s False: From a strictly nomenclatural standpoint, there is no such thing as “ethyl methylphenidate,” and the top references to it on Google search link to cloned versions of Wolfe’s assertion: Giving Wolfe the benefit of the doubt, we’d guess it is possible he meant either Methylphenidate (the ADHD drug Ritalin) or Ethylphenidate (an analog of Ritalin). No peer-reviewed studies have documented either compound’s occurrence in artificial cheese flavoring. Claim: Graham Crackers are “laced” with TBHQ, which causes ADHD, restlessness, anxiety, and also stomach cancer. (Though already identified as problematic in the Pop Tart section, this iteration of TBHQ’s threat introduces new claims that need to be investigated). MIXTURE What’s True: Rodents that were administered high levels of TBHQ, in some studies, showed signs of “gastrointestinal hyperplasia”— in which cells are created at a higher than normal rate that is similar to—but not actually—cancer. A study using human white blood cells in vitro suggested that this effect could plausibly happen in humans and could potentially be linked to TBHQ. While hyperplasia is a different process than neoplasia — which is the cellular process behind cancer — it is valid to say that hyperplasia can increase the risk of cancerous cells developing. What’s False: No peer-reviewed studies link TBHQ—specifically—to ADHD, restlessness, or anxiety. Diets inspired by Benjamin Feingold’s research frequently suggest the removal of TBHQ as a cure for ADHD, but no research specifically focused on TBHQ has documented any connection, and those diets generally treat all food coloring agents as a broad group despite clear chemical differences. The claims made in Wolfe’s post stem from a highly selective, lazy, and filtered reading of decades of complex and involved research, a majority of which was never performed on humans. In those few studies that showed negative effects, dosing was much higher than would be encountered in any food including children’s snacks.

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/19700#section=Toxicity, http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/8214803, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/9322#section=Toxicity, https://web.archive.org/web/20170504194734/https://www.med.illinois.edu/m2/pathology/TAReviews/neoplasia.php, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5284351, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003441.htm, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/3259, http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/safety/cosmetics/specific_topics/hair_dye/docs/assessment_strategy_for_hair_dyes_safety_en.pdf, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6093232, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=255&v=MZPi3HnGxq8, https://www.davidwolfe.com/about/, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/7150, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/12961638%23section=Toxicity, http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf60216a037, https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/84, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/16043%23section=Non-Human-Toxicity-Excerpts, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/19700, http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/3765, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/2272, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6093299, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.2740250313/abstract;jsessionid=652921410DA88328DBEC04E888AF573A.f03t01, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/16043#section=Toxicity, https://www.afpm.org/petrochemicals/, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6093232%23section=Toxicity, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6321403, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/4158, https://www.facebook.com/jerseydemic/videos/10154881713070681/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20686341?dopt=Abstract, https://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/FoodAdvisoryCommittee/UCM273033.pdf, http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Diet-and-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6093232#section=Food-Additives-and-Ingredients, https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-09-30-at-11.40.44-AM.png, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/16043, https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+@rel+1948-33-0, http://feingold.org/about-the-program/dr-feingold/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4040101?dopt=Abstract, http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consumer_safety/docs/sccs_o_030.pdf, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6093299#section=Toxicity, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/3080846, http://www.snopes.com/cheez-it-tbhq/

0false

Food, cancer, carcinogens, david avocado wolfe

2755

California sees high rate of flu deaths in unusually severe season.

February 1, 2014

An unusually severe flu season has claimed the lives of at least 147 young and middle-aged people in California - 10 times the number killed by influenza viruses by the same time last year, public health officials said on Friday.

Sharon Bernstein

The California deaths were caused by a strain of the influenza virus that is sending sufferers across the nation to the doctor for flu-like symptoms at rates that are 50 percent higher than normal, said Lyn Finelli, head of the influenza surveillance and outbreak response team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “That’s way above the norm for flu,” Finelli said. “It tells us we’re still in the middle of flu season, and in the Northeast and California it’s going up, up, up.” The flu strain responsible for the California deaths, H1N1, also predominates nationwide this year. It hits people hardest between the ages of 25 and 64, partly because some older people are believed to have more immunity due to similar outbreaks many decades ago. In California, 52 people died last week alone, including one child, the state’s chief of communicable disease control told reporters on a conference call Friday. “This influenza season continues to be a severe one as the increasing number of influenza-related deaths indicates,” Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement, urging Californians to get vaccinated. In addition to the 147 confirmed California flu-related fatalities this season among people under age 65, another 44 suspected flu deaths remain under investigation, said Dr. James Watt, chief of the state’s Division of Communicable Disease Control. Most of those felled by the disease had other health conditions, but not all, he said. Last year at the same time, the state had recorded just 14 flu deaths among Californians under age 65. The death of a 47-year-old television advertising executive in the state’s capital city prompted a renewed call for residents to become vaccinated against flu. Sacramento County, with 21 deaths so far, leads the state in fatalities. “After reading the heartbreaking story of Nancy Pinnella, went to CVS and got my first flu shot ever,” California’s first lady, Anne Gust Brown, posted on Twitter. It is not fully clear whether California is an outlier in the severity of its cases, because states are not required to report flu deaths to the CDC, and data is collected differently from state to state and county to county, said CDC spokesman Jason McDonald. The fatality data that the public health agency does collect, on pediatric deaths, is not useful in studying H1N1, because the virus is more likely to attack adults, Finelli said. The public health agency does, however collect information on why people go to the doctor, and whether they are hospitalized for flu. Those signs, she said, show that this year’s flu is likely to continue to hit hard. Although the number of cases nationwide appears to have plateaued, she said, that does not take into account that California and the Northeast are lagging other areas with a late flu season. Meanwhile, CDC data does show that far more people under the age of 65 are being hospitalized with flu-like symptoms than last year. As of last week, for example, 76 percent of those hospitalized for flu were under age 65, compared to less than 50 percent last year. Nationwide, the data shows that somewhat fewer people have contracted flu so far this year than last year, Finelli said. This year’s strain, however, appears to be causing severe illness in a population that is more typically robust, she said.

2true

Health News

27934

Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner married a woman who had two children, one a special needs child.

February 3, 2002

In Super Bowl XXXVI, Kurt Warner led the St. Louis Rams (who have since relocated back to Los Angeles) in their quest for another victory; although they came up just short, Warner was already the stuff of legends. Deservedly.

David Mikkelson

Here’s the Story: In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over asking for a carry out at check register 4. Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love. Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out only to see her start walking up the road. Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn’t possible. He pressed and and she explained she had two children and she couldn’t afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday. That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, “Well, lets take the kids with us.” She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children. She had a older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with down syndrome. Kurtis asked Brenda, “I still don’t understand why the kids can’t come with us?” Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities. Just like her first husband and father of her children did. That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the rest room, he picked him up out of his chair, took him, brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with. A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children . Since then they have added two more kids. So what happened to the stock boy and check out girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner, now live in St. Louis, where he is employed by the St. Louis Rams and plays quarterback. The premise of the above-quoted story — that NFL quarterback Kurt Warner (who made the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite starting his career as an undrafted free agent) married the mother of two children, one of whom which had severe medical problems — is true. On the other hand, most of the key details provided in this widely circulated story were wrong. (Which in itself is a crying shame because the real story about Kurt’s and Brenda’s path through life is far more inspiring than this factually incorrect one.) Let’s address the inaccuracies first: Kurt and Brenda did not meet while both were working in a grocery store, so you can throw out all that bit about his mooning over her timecard. They met in 1992 at a country bar while he was Northern Iowa’s starting quarterback. (After being cut by the Green Bay Packers in 1994, Kurt did find employment in a grocery store, though: He stocked shelves at a Hy-Vee in Cedar Falls for $5.50 an hour.) The next morning Kurt brought Brenda roses and wanted to meet her youngsters. She’d told Kurt about her children the night before, so there was no dramatic surprise when she introduced her disabled son. The Warners’ was a lengthy courtship. They married in 1997 after meeting in 1992 (not “a year later,” as the e-mail has it). Brenda (who is four years older than Kurt) had two children by a previous marriage; however, the e-mail version has their birth order reversed. In real life, Zachary is three years older than his sister, Jesse Jo. (More on this seemingly picayune point later because it’s pivotal to the real story of Brenda Warner’s life before Kurt.) Zachary Warner (born in 1989) does indeed have serious physical infirmities, but how he came by them is far more of a story than the Internet fiction lets on. He was a perfectly healthy infant, not a Down Syndrome child. When he was four months old, his father dropped him, and in the blink of an eye, this previously healthy baby was suddenly clinging to life, his grip slipping fast. He suffered severe brain damage, and both of his retinas were ruptured. At the time, few thought Zachary would live, and fewer still held out any hope he would ever see, sit up, read, walk, or talk. Zachary’s recovery has been long and arduous, but he now walks and talks. Though still legally blind, he can make out colors and shapes. No longer strictly a special-needs student, he is integrated for half-days in a regular high school classroom. Kurt adopted Zachary and Jesse after his wedding to Brenda in 1997. The Warners have since added five more children to their brood: Kade in 1998, Jada in 2001, Elijah in 2003, and twins Sienna and Sierra in 2005. As for what sort of lad Zachary is and what kind of relationship he enjoys with his adoptive father, this anecdote should say it all: After the Rams victory in the NFC Championship game in 2000, 10-year-old Zachary presented Kurt with a homemade card done in Rams blue and gold. Inside, in childlike scrawl, it read: “You’re as good a dad as you are a quarterback!” Zachary’s birth dad could hardly be described in similar fashion. An inability to come to terms with the injuries he’d visited upon his son led to the breakup of his marriage to Brenda. He left her when she was eight months pregnant with Jesse. Over and above the numerous inaccuracies, the worst offense this particular e-mailed glurge is guilty of is omission. Not content with recasting the details of the Warners’ lives (and the reality had the fiction beat, remember), it leaves by the wayside horrendously large chunks of a truly thrilling story of the sort one usually pays $9.00 to see at the movies: As you can see, falling in love with and then marrying a gal who had two children, one of them a special needs child, was just part of this most remarkable story.

2true

Glurge Gallery, football

3400

Georgia’s Kemp submits bid to remake health insurance market.

Georgia’s Republican governor on Monday submitted twin plans requesting that President Donald Trump’s administration allow changes to federal government subsidies for health insurance.

Jeff Amy

Gov. Brian Kemp said proposed changes to former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act would give individuals and families less expensive coverage options, a particular benefit for those who don’t qualify for federal subsidies to cover premiums. “They’re going to work to reduce costs, make health care more accessible and have better quality in our state,” Kemp said in a statement. Critics say it would drive up insurance costs for older and sicker people. Kemp also wants to offer subsidized coverage to a fraction of Georgia’s uninsured poor if they worked or went to school for 80 or more hours a month. Kemp’s administration projects the expansion would cover 50,000 people, far less than the 400,000 uninsured Georgians who might be covered by the Medicaid expansion originally envisioned by the overhaul. This second proposal, aimed at people earning incomes of up to 100% of the federal poverty level, echoes those made by other states. Federal officials have rejected some similar partial expansions. But it’s the first plan, under which Georgia would take over the federal insurance marketplace and the associated funding that goes with it, that’s drawing national notice. The state would make those federal subsidies available to people who buy health plans that don’t provide the full array of benefits that the Affordable Care Act requires. Passed in 2010, Obama’s signature health care law extended insurance coverage to millions of Americans by expanding Medicaid and subsidizing premiums for individuals and families who make up to four times the federal poverty level. The law — also known as “Obamacare” — allows states to seek waivers from the federal government to change certain provisions, but only if they adhere to strict rules. The Trump administration has loosened those rules, and Kemp’s plan includes three approaches promoted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in November 2018. Health policy experts say that change would drive up ACA premiums by drawing healthier people to less expensive, skimpier insurance plans. That would leave the ACA with a sicker patient pool. Under Kemp’s plan, Georgia residents would be required to bypass the central HealthCare.gov website to sign up for insurance. Instead, the state would redirect them to a list of approved brokers and insurers where consumers would be able to compare ACA-compliant plans side by side with plans that don’t meet ACA requirements. All plans would have to continue covering preexisting conditions. In addition to the current gold, silver and bronze level plans, Georgia would let insurers offer a new lower tier of benefits, called copper level, which would cover only about half the cost of projected expenses. The current lowest level of bronze covers about 60% of costs. The state says copper level premiums are expected to be 17% lower than bronze level premiums, on average. Georgia also would let insurers offer disease management plans aimed at helping patients manage a particular high-cost disease such as diabetes or HIV and AIDS. State officials would set an overall cap on its own subsidies at $255 million. There is no cap under the ACA, although the state doesn’t project its spending will come anywhere near the cap, even though it projects enrollment will increase by more than 37,000. The governor’s office estimates that the availability of subsidies for pared-down health plans would only increase “Obamacare” premiums by a little more than 1%. State officials say that amount would be more than offset by its intention to pay a portion of insurance companies’ costs to treat their sickest patients, a relatively small group that incurs the biggest bills. The so-called reinsurance program would allow the companies to lower monthly premiums for all customers. Twelve other states have received approval for reinsurance programs, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. State officials expect to hear by August whether Georgia has permission to implement its plans.

2true

Georgia, Health, Government subsidies, Barack Obama, Donald Trump

378

Pigs fly: China pork producers surge as swine disease cuts supply.

December 5, 2016

Shares in China’s leading pig producers have soared to record levels despite one of the worst disease outbreaks in years, as investors bet on tightening pork supplies and strong government support for leading producers.

Dominique Patton

China is battling the world’s fastest spreading outbreak of African swine fever, an incurable pig disease that has been confirmed in 28 of its provinces and regions. Livestock shares initially slid on the early outbreaks in August and September. But they have climbed since November, even as outbreaks continued and as transport curbs on infected provinces hit prices and hurt profits at most producers. Shares in Muyuan Foods Co Ltd, the No.2 producer, have doubled in the past six months. No. 4 producer Jiangxi Zhengbang Technology Co has surged more than 200 percent, while rapidly growing Tech-bank Food Co Ltd is up 143 percent. Graphic - Swine Stampede: Listed pork producers in China surge to near record levels as investors bet on tighter supplies & govt support - tmsnrt.rs/2BYgwdC While listed companies still account for only a modest proportion of China’s annual production of 700 million pigs, they are growing quickly as Beijing promotes modern farm techniques. Muyuan produced 11 million pigs last year. The share price gains come even as most companies have forecast a plunge in earnings for last year. In a preliminary report, Muyuan said its 2018 net profit slid 78 percent to 520.2 million yuan ($77.7 million), after prices fell partly because of African swine fever. But analysts say prices for live pigs have bottomed and could rise from 12 yuan per kilogram currently to as much as 20 yuan in the second half, as supplies plunge and farmers face challenges in restocking farms. “Prices could rise quite high, quite quickly,” said Xiong Kuan, analyst at Cofco Futures, who expects a 20 percent drop in supplies. Others say it could be as much as 30 percent. Large players with low-cost modern farms that are better able to resist disease are expected to reap good profits. They will also win support from the government, already worried about supply. China eats half the world’s pork, by far the country’s most popular meat, but much of the production comes from millions of small farmers whose farms have been most at risk of disease. “The government sees very clearly, among all the cases of African swine fever, less than 20 percent took place on big farms. They are encouraging big farms with good biosecurity measures to expand production,” said Feng Yonghui, chief analyst at Soozhu.com. Last month the agriculture ministry urged farmers to quickly replenish their herds as concerns grew that prices will rise rapidly in the second half of the year. And last week, Beijing issued a draft plan aimed at tackling the disease and shoring up supplies. It called for the promotion of high-quality farming companies in southern areas that need to increase supplies and support for large-scale integrated processors across the country. Many big companies have continued to expand, eyeing future bumper profits. Top 10 producer New Hope Liuhe produced 2.5 million pigs in 2018, up 50 percent on the prior year. Muyuan raised 5 billion yuan in a share placement in December to add new farms for 4.8 million pigs. The expansion would help provide the market with stable supplies and allow the company to “firmly grasp the opportunities from market transformation,” it said.

https://tmsnrt.rs/2BYgwdC

2true

Health News

2781

WellPoint says health exchange applicants hit expectations.

January 29, 2014

U.S. health insurer WellPoint Inc said on Wednesday the applicants for the new Obamacare health plans are of the age and demographics it had expected, indicating that medical costs will not soar beyond the prices it charges.

Caroline Humer

WellPoint, which released lower fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, said that based on age, insurance plan selection, income levels, gender and available pharmacy data, it believes it has set the right premium rates for these new customers. Insurance plans under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law went on sale October 1 and into effect on January 1. Initial enrollment data nationwide has shown that the first wave of people who enrolled are older people who can be more expensive to insure because they often have more health problems than young people. Shares in WellPoint rose about 3 percent, or $2.75, to $87.05 in morning trading after the comments. Competitor Aetna Inc shares rose 39 cents to $69.32 while UnitedHealth Group Inc gained 33 cents to $72.03. “There was a concern that a lot of the firms that were involved in the exchanges would be underpriced for the demographic that would find the exchanges appealing, at least over the first year,” Morningstar analyst Vishnu Lekraj said. “What they said was that they priced everything appropriately given the data they have currently, in terms of medical cost utilization,” Lekraj said. WellPoint, one of the biggest players on the exchanges, said that it was still not certain about how enrollment, which is open until March 31, would finally end up, contributing to uncertainty about its 2014 earnings. The company forecast earnings of above $8 per share in 2014, representing a likely drop from the $8.52 it earned in 2013 before special items. Analysts on average were expecting 2014 earnings to fall to $8.39 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt said the 2014 outlook reflects about a $100 million negative effect of changes in government policy regarding the rollout of Obamacare. Late last year as political pressure mounted around technology problems on the exchanges and the higher premium rates on new plans, the Obama administration said that older individual plans could be renewed and it increased the number of people eligible for catastrophic coverage. DeVeydt said ACA insurer fees, which are not tax deductible for insurers, would cost earnings $1.10 per share and that it would spend about $30 million on first-year exchange costs. FOURTH-QUARTER PROFIT FALLS WellPoint said fourth quarter profit fell as consumers increased their use of medical services ahead of the cancellation of some insurance plans at the end of 2013. The company also took a charge for the recently announced sale of its contact lens business, 1-800 Contacts, to private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, which caused a sharp decline in net profit. WellPoint, which sells Empire and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, also said its costs went up as it prepared for the rollout of Obamacare, and an expected increase of 1 million new members this year. So far, about 3 million people have enrolled in exchange plans, according to the government. The Congressional Budget Office had forecast that about 7 million people would sign up for 2014 coverage. Sign-ups are lagging targets because of technology problems in the first two months after the launch of the national website HealthCare.gov that sells insurance plans in 36 states. The other 14 states run their own sites. WellPoint said it had received 500,000 applications for new individual health plans that went into effect January 1, most of them for exchange-based plans but some for plans it sells off the exchange. Income-based subsidies from the government are only available for exchange plans. It said most of these customers were new to WellPoint. WellPoint said net profit for the fourth quarter fell to $148.2 million, or 49 cents per share, from $464 million, or $1.51 per share a year earlier. Excluding costs for the sale of 1-800 Contacts and investment gains, earnings fell to 87 cents per share from $1.03 per share, which also included investment gains and acquisition costs. The quarterly earnings were in line with analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company spent 87.8 percent of its premiums brought in on medical claims, up from 87.3 percent a year ago. It said that as old individual plans were being canceled ahead of the introduction of the new 2014 insurance, customers used more medical services. Spending on medical procedures, doctor visits and hospitalizations has been at a historical low for the past several years. This has helped insurers keep these medical cost ratios down while still complying with the Affordable Care Act, which requires them to spend at least 80 percent of plan premiums on care or refund customers the difference. WellPoint said it added 145,000 members during the quarter as it picked up small business customers and new enrollees in the California Medicaid program for the poor. It had 35.7 million members at the end of 2013.

2true

Health News

24444

"The GOP health care plan ""would allow health insurance companies to continue engaging in unfair and discriminatory practices like denying coverage to people because of a pre-existing medical condition."

November 5, 2009

Wasserman Schultz says GOP alternative health care plan allows insurers to continue denying coverage for pre-existing conditions

Robert Farley

"The GOP's alternative health care plan hadn't even hit the streets before the Democratic push-back began. The day before the plan was officially unveiled, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., took aim at the way the GOP plan was described by media outlets that had gotten early, leaked versions of it. In a press release from the Democratic National Committee, Vice Chair Wasserman Schultz said the GOP plan, ""would allow health insurance companies to continue engaging in unfair and discriminatory practices like denying coverage to people because of a pre-existing medical condition."" Requiring insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions has been a popular element of the Democratic plan. Now that we've seen the full 219-page GOP alternative plan, it shows Wasserman Schultz is correct that it does not prohibit health insurance companies from denying coverage to people due to pre-existing medical conditions. But to listen to her, one might get the impression the Republicans have completely ignored the issue of pre-existing conditions. And they haven't. They have a different idea that they think will get at the problem. More than 10 pages of the GOP bill spell out a plan to help people with pre-existing conditions by allowing universal access to expanded and improved state-run high-risk pools. They accept patients who have health conditions that might prompt private insurance companies to reject them. Already, 34 states have high-risk insurance pools. ""We want to encourage all states to have these,"" said House Republican Leader John Boehner. ""And we put more money into these high-risk pools so that we can bring down the cost of health insurance. And at the end of the day, what we're doing with our proposal is lowering health care insurance premiums — lowering cost and expanding access."" The Republican plan calls for $25 billion in funding through 2019 to subsidize state high risk pool and reinsurance programs. In an MSNBC interview on Nov. 4, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said the cost of bolstering state funds and insurance programs to cover people with pre-existing conditions would be offset by savings from medical malpractice reforms that he said would ""rein in some of these runaway massive lawsuits that drive defensive medicine and drive up the cost of premiums."" Democrats counter that high-risk insurance pools have done little to solve the problems faced by people with pre-existing medical conditions. Premiums in those pools are usually far more expensive than in your average health insurance plan, and therefore remain out of reach for many moderate to low-income people with pre-existing conditions. The Republican plan tries to address that by requiring that the pool ""must limit the pool premiums to no more than 150 percent of the average premium for applicable standard risk rates in that state."" In other words, it might cost people with pre-existing conditions 50 percent more than average premiums paid by healthy people. But a study shows that might make the price too high. A February 2005 study by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund found that in states with high-risk pools, the rates were typically 25 percent to 50 percent higher than average rates. People with lower incomes just couldn't afford to buy into the state pools. As a result, they found, high-risk pool subsidies tended to go to a small number of relatively high-income people, those who could afford premiums well above market rates. The GOP plan for dealing with the issue of people with pre-existing conditions ""is essentially the same as now, and now is not working,"" said Jonathan Beeton, a spokesman for Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman Schultz was correct when she said the GOP plan does not prohibit health insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. We found nothing in the 219-page Republican plan that would do that. Insurance companies have argued that they can only absorb the cost of taking people with pre-existing conditions if they could offset that expense by expanding their customer base through mandates that everyone buy insurance. And the Republican plan doesn't do that. Still, we think Wasserman Schultz's comments imply that Republicans have simply ignored the issue of pre-existing conditions altogether. They have not. They have taken a different tack from  the Democrats. And Democrats may not agree that dealing with the issue through state-run high-risk pools is an adequate plan, but it is a plan. And so we rule Wasserman Schultz's comment ."

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/20445, http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Fund%20Report/2005/Feb/Insuring%20the%20Healthy%20or%20Insuring%20the%20Sick%20%20The%20Dilemma%20of%20Regulating%20the%20Individual%20Health%20Insurance/771_Turnbull_insuring_healthy_or_sick_findings%20pdf.pdf, http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/hcare/HR3962SECBYSECFINAL.pdf, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdz2AwjsXxo, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/health/policy/04health.html?_r=3&ref=politics, http://rules-republicans.house.gov/Media/PDF/RepublicanAlternative3962_9.pdf

2true

National, Health Care, Debbie Wasserman Schultz,

8604

Israelis put on coronavirus lockdown for Passover holiday celebration.

April 6, 2020

Israelis celebrating the Jewish Passover holiday this week will hold the “seder”, the traditional meal celebrating freedom from biblical slavery, confined to their homes under a national coronavirus lockdown.

Ari Rabinovitch

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the edict in a televised address in which he also held out hope of implementing an “exit strategy” soon that would gradually loosen restrictions imposed to try to stem the spread of the virus. Netanyahu said a ban on inter-city travel would go into effect on Tuesday afternoon and end on Friday morning. On Wednesday evening, when roads are usually jammed with families traveling to large, festive seder dinners, all Israelis, including the country’s Arab minority, will be confined under the order to their homes until the next morning. “Every family will hold the seder alone, you will celebrate only with the limited number of family members now in your home,” Netanyahu said. Similar seder practices were expected in other parts of the world where people were urged to stay at home because of the virus. At the seder, participants recount with prayers, songs and a festive meal the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It is an intergenerational affair, with the youngest child at the table traditionally asking, “Why is this night different from all other nights of the year?” and elders then explaining why, while drinking holiday-proscribed glasses of wine. In Israel’s sombre modern-day reality, there have been nearly 9,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 57 people have died as a result. Under restrictions already in place, Israelis have been instructed by the government to venture no more than 100 metres (yards) from home, with the exception of those going to workplaces that are still open or to shop for groceries or medicine. Netanyahu noted much higher death tolls in other countries and said the numbers in Israel are a result of government measures to contain the outbreak. “There is a real possibility that if the positive trends continue we will gradually end the lockdown after the Passover holiday,” he said. Restrictions will be eased according to “the level of risk among the population,” he said, with those most vulnerable remaining in isolation longest. The government-imposed limitations have forced many businesses to close, sending unemployment soaring to 25%. Netanyahu has also been trying to form a national unity government with his centrist rival Benny Gantz, a former general and political newcomer. Neither Netanyahu nor Gantz secured a parliamentary majority after three inconclusive elections this past year. The veteran leader proposed a unity government to tackle the coronavirus, promising to step down as prime minister within an agreed period, with Gantz then taking over. Negotiations appeared to have been moving forward until they hit a snag late on Monday. Gantz’s party said there was a dispute over the make-up of the government committee for appointing judges. Political analysts had said a final deal was imminent.

2true

Health News

21954

Obamacare cuts $500 billion in future Medicare funding in order to fund the new constitutionally questionable government mandate, even going so far as to scuttle Medicare's most popular (and successful) part, Medicare Advantage.

June 10, 2011

Mike Haridopolos takes on health care bill in newspaper op-ed

Aaron Sharockman

"The federal health care law returned to the news June 8, 2011, when a trio of federal judges heard oral arguments over whether Congress can force people to either buy health insurance or pay penalties. Which means for us ... more claims about the health care law. This one comes from Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, a Republican running for Bill Nelson's seat in the U.S. Senate in 2012. Haridopolos published an op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel on June 9 titled ""More need protection under Medicare reform."" Here are the first 200 words or so: Liberal politicians and media pundits in Washington have repeatedly sold us a false paradigm that we can either reform government spending, or we can protect the promise we've made to Americans in need, including seniors. What if I told you we could do both? Everyone should start from the position that no one will be helped if America falls into bankruptcy. That's why I worked with Florida legislators during the 2011 session to pass a resolution rejecting Obamacare, countering the dangerous cuts this new government entitlement made to current programs, including Medicare, in order to fund new ones. It's not a political ploy. It's a question of government making promises and breaking them at a time when millions of Americans are counting on them most. Here's what I mean: Obamacare funds welfare for able adults on the backs of seniors that have already paid their dues. Obamacare cuts $500 billion in future Medicare funding in order to fund the new constitutionally questionable government mandate, even going so far as to scuttle Medicare's most popular (and successful) part, Medicare Advantage. Strip aside the derisive references to Obamacare and you have an interesting two-part claim. One, that the federal health care law ""cuts $500 billion in future Medicare funding."" And two, that it ""scuttle(s) Medicare's most popular (and successful) part, Medicare Advantage."" PolitiFact has addressed the $500 billion in Medicare ""cuts"" several times, but since the topic keeps reappearing, we think it's time for a refresher course. By way of introduction, Medicare serves as the health insurance program for 39 million seniors and another eight million people under 65 receiving Social Security. Medicare makes up 12 percent of the federal budget. Medicare reforms were part of the 2010 health care legislation. Some reforms increase Medicare spending to improve benefits and coverage, said Tricia Neuman, who is vice president and director of the Medicare Policy Project at the Kaiser Family Foundation -- a trusted independent source. For instance, the health care law adds $5 billion to help cover prevention services and $43 billion to help fill in a gap for enrollees purchasing prescription drugs through the Medicare Part D program (sometimes called the doughnut hole). Other provisions reduce the growth in Medicare spending to help the program operate more efficiently and help pay for coverage expansions to the uninsured in the underlying health reform legislation, Neuman said. And yet other provisions are designed to improve the delivery and quality of care. (Neuman explains the changes in an easily digestible tutorial on the Kaiser Family Foundation's website. It's the best non-ideological explanation we've seen.) The key for us is noting that the law does not take $500 billion out of the current Medicare budget. Rather, the bill attempts to slow the program's future growth, curtailing just over $500 billion in future spending increases over the next 10 years. Medicare spending will still increase. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects Medicare spending will reach $929 billion in 2020, up from $499 billion in actual spending in 2009. So while the health care law reduces the amount of future spending increases in Medicare, the law doesn't cut Medicare. Haridopolos' wording is better than similar claims we've seen. Again, he wrote that the health care law ""cuts $500 billion in future Medicare funding."" It would have been better, though, had he added the word ""increased"" somewhere, and referred to Medicare spending rather than funding. The spending reductions to Medicare are intended to offset, to some extent, the overall cost of the new health care law, which applies to everyone. So where does the $500 billion in savings come from? Nearly $220 billion comes from reducing annual increases in payments that health care providers would otherwise receive from Medicare. Other savings include $36 billion from increases in premiums for higher-income beneficiaries and $12 billion from administrative changes. A new national board will be tasked to identify $15.5 billion in savings, but the board -- the Independent Payment Advisory Board -- is prohibited from proposing anything that would ration care or reduce or modify benefits. None of those are cuts in the traditional sense. Then there's another $136 billion in projected savings that would come from changes to the Medicare Advantage program. About 25 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. A perfect segue to Haridopolos' second claim: The health care bill will ""scuttle"" Medicare Advantage. There are two basic ways most people get Medicare coverage. They enroll in traditional Medicare and a prescription drug plan through the government and maybe buy a supplemental policy to cover most out-of-pocket costs. Or they enroll in Medicare Advantage programs (they include drug plans), which are run by private insurers. Medicare Advantage programs typically have more generous benefits such as dental and vision coverage. Some plans even pay the patient’s monthly Medicare premium, which can amount to about $100. The Medicare Advantage program was intended to bring more efficiency from the private sector to the Medicare program, but it hasn't worked as planned. A June 2009 analysis from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission said that the Advantage programs cost taxpayers an average of 14 percent more than the traditional Medicare plan. President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that the Medicare Advantage plan wastes public money that could be put to better use. The health care law phases out extra payments for Medicare Advantage programs, starting modestly in 2012, to bring their costs in line with traditional Medicare. The change is expected to result in fewer extra benefits offered by providers and higher out-of-pocket costs for enrollees, though the exact changes will fluctuate across the country. Actuaries with The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services said in October 2010 that the estimated out-of-pocket expenses to Medicare Advantage participants will increase by $873 in 2019, when the law is fully implemented. Remember, though, Medicare Advantage participants often get benefits traditional Medicare enrollees do not. The same actuaries also said the number of Medicare Advantage enrollees may be cut in half by 2017 under terms of the law. Those who drop out of Medicare Advantage are still eligible to opt back into traditional Medicare. But since that study, the impact of the Medicare Advantage cuts has been softened. The health care law included bonuses to high-performing plans -- plans that receive four or five stars on a five-star scale. The idea was to keep the most cost-effective plans in business. But in April 2011, the government decided to expand the pool of Medicare Advantage plans eligible for the bonuses, saying that average-quality plans with just three or three-and-a-half stars would also get bonuses. The change infuses an additional $6.7 billion into Medicare Advantage. According to the Associated Press, four out of five Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans that are now eligible for a bonus. Without the changes, only one in four would have been in plans getting the extra payments. The bonuses are only temporary, however, and cuts will resume in 2015. To recap: In a Sentinel op-ed, Haridopolos made two claims about the federal health care law. He said it ""cuts $500 billion in future Medicare funding"" and would ""scuttle Medicare's most popular (and successful) part, Medicare Advantage."" There are elements of truth in each claim. The $500 billion in ""cuts"" are actually cuts to future increased spending, so we give Haridopolos some credit for not simply calling it cuts to Medicare as so many others have done. And Medicare Advantage isn't going away as part of the new health care law. Instead, the law tries to put Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare programs on even-footing with respect to costs to the taxpayer."

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/sep/20/60-plus-association/medicare-cuts-health-care-law-will-hurt-seniors-sa/, https://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/117xx/doc11705/08-18-Update.pdf, http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-06-09/news/os-ed-mike-haridopolos-060911-20110608_1_medicare-advantage-entitlement-reform-obamacare, https://factcheck.org/2010/03/rove-vs-brokaw-and-other-sunday-squabbles/, https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0322/Health-care-reform-bill-101-What-does-it-mean-for-seniors, https://factcheck.org/2010/09/misleading-onslaught-by-60-plus/, http://op.bna.com/hl.nsf/id/bbrk-8a7t97/$File/ActuaryCMSOct2010.pdf, https://www.cms.gov/ActuarialStudies/05_HealthCareReform.asp#TopOfPage, https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110419/ap_on_re_us/us_medicare_reprieve, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/aug/14/barack-obama/obama-claims-medicare-benefits-will-not-be-cut-und/, http://blog.heritage.org/?p=44906, http://kaiseredu.org/tutorials/Medicare-and-health-reform/player.html, https://politifact.com/florida/statements/2010/sep/02/rick-scott/rick-scott-says-alex-sink-wants-cut-medicare/

1mixture

Health Care, Medicare, Florida, Mike Haridopolos,

35215

"A newspaper clipping from 1918 documents a ""public notice"" from the city of Kelowna, British Columbia, announcing that schools, movie theaters, and other public places would be closed to prevent the spread of ""Spanish Influenza."" "

March 31, 2020

During the 1918-19 H1N1 “Spanish” influenza pandemic, which infected a fifth to a third of the world population, and during which 50 million people have died worldwide, including an estimated 675,000 Americans, the United States has adopted a range of nonpharmaceutical (public health) interventions. These measures, which were similar to those currently adopted, included closure of schools and churches, banning of mass gatherings, mandated mask wearing, case isolation, and disinfection/hygiene measures. However, these measures were not implemented at the same time or for the same duration in different cities, nor were they uniformly followed. A recent analysis concluded that in some cities (San Francisco, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Kansas City), where the measures were implemented early, they reduced transmission rates by up to 30–50%. Cities that implemented such measures earlier had greater delays in reaching peak mortality, and had lower peak mortality rates and lower total mortality. The duration that these “social distancing” measures were kept in place correlated with a reduced total mortality burden. Although we still have no known effective therapy or vaccine prevention for this coronavirus, and the world is a quite different place than it was 100 years ago, the efficacy of the measures instituted during the 1918-19 pandemic gives us hope that the current measures will also limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dan Evon

In March 2020, as cities around the world announced “shelter-in-place” or “self-quarantine” orders in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, social media users started to circulate an image that supposedly showed a newspaper clipping from 1918 with a similar announcement in the town of Kelowna, British Columbia: The clipping reads: Public Notice. Notice is hearby given that, in order to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza, all Schools, public and private, Churches, Theaters, Moving Picture Halls, Pool Rooms and other places of amusement, and Lodge meetings, are to be closed until further notice. All public gatherings consisting of 10 or more are prohibited. D. W. Sutherland, Mayor. Kelowna, B.C., 19 October 1918. This is a genuine newspaper clipping that was published in the Kelowna Record in 1918 as this Canadian town, as well as the rest of the world, fought to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, commonly and misleadingly called the “Spanish Flu.” The clipping was archived by the University of British Columbia and can be viewed here. Kelowna, of course, was not the only city to issue such an order. We searched the archives of Newspapers.com and found several similar announcements in cities across the United States. On Oct. 10, 1918, for instance, Des Moines, Iowa, Mayor Thomas P. Fairweather announced that “in order to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza and to protect the public health and safety,” he was directing “all public places of amusement, including theaters, moving pictures houses, dance halls and public dancing places, pool and billiard halls, skating rinks, outdoor athletic events, all public congregating places subject to unusual congestion, be closed.” Thu, Oct 10, 1918 – Page 6 · The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa) · Newspapers.com Mobile, Alabama, took these closures one step further. In addition to closing restaurants and businesses, Mobile also asked people to refrain from kissing: Tue, Oct 8, 1918 – 10 · Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, Tennessee) · Newspapers.com In 1918, just like today, individual cities and states made the decision to close schools, businesses, and public gathering places. According to a recent study from the Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology, cities that implemented strict social guidelines during the early days of the 1918 pandemic saw lower transmission rates and reduced total mortalities.

2true

Medical, COVID-19

38675

A Saudi billionaire purchased the entire town of Buford, Wyoming, and has hired the Binladen Group to build a “Western Mecca” that will ban non-Muslims.

January 27, 2016

Saudi Billionaire Buys Buford, Wyoming, to Build Mecca

Rich Buhler & Staff

Reports that a Saudi billionaire purchased Buford, Wyoming, and hired the Bin Laden family’s construction firm to build a “Western Mecca” were drudged up by a fake news website. Real News Right Now published a story in November 2015 under the headline, “Saudi Billionaire Begins Construction of ‘Western Mecca’ in Wyoming.” Sheikh Mohammed Kamel Alsaud bought the small town for $1.8 billion to fulfill his “lifelong dream of bringing Islam to America,” the story reports: Alsaud has hired the Binladen Group, a Saudi Arabian construction company founded in 1931 by Mohammed Bin Laden, to develop the $650 million project. Dubbed the ‘Mecca of the West’ by Shiekh Alsaud, the site is designed to replicate the original Mecca, birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the most sacred site in the Islamic faith, located in Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. Like the original holy city, only Muslims are permitted access to the ‘Mecca of the West.’ However, Alsaud told Forbes, “Our non-Muslim patrons will have the option to view the holy shrine using high-end telescopes installed at way-points around the perimeter.” The telescopes, according to Alsaud, are pay-per-view and cost $15 to operate. “A fair price in comparison to that which our Muslim brothers and sisters will pay to make their annual pilgrimage to Buford,” Alsaud said. At the time, the story didn’t gain much traction. That’s probably because Real News Right Now is notorious for publishing fake news articles with a radical right-wing bend. The site doesn’t clearly identify itself as satire, but reading between the lines of its “About” page tells the story. Its credits include the Stephen Glass Distinction in Journalistic Integrity (Glass is a disgraced journalist who fabricated stories) and the Oscar Mayer Award for Journalistic Excellence (Oscar Mayer is the world’s foremost purveyor of bologna). The false report about a Saudi billionaire’s plans to build a “Western Mecca” in Buford, Wyoming, resurfaced in January 2016 when the story appeared at Before Its News, a website that publishes user-generated content “as is.” This time, it gained more traction. This rumor is a classic example of a fake news story using a kernel of truth to dupe its readers. In this case, the kernel of truth is the odd town of Buford, Wyoming. The town lies on about 10 acres and includes one convenience store, gas station and a modular home. Don Sammons, the town’s mayor and only resident, auctioned Buford off in 2012. An unidentified Vietnamese businessman bought Buford for $900,000, completing his dream of “owning a piece of property in the U.S,” Reuters reports. Buford’s buyer was later identified as Nguyen Dinh Pham, a 38-year old Vietnamese businessman who “distributes home- and personal-care brands in Vietnam.” By 2013, Dinh Pham was working toward making Buford “the face of a new Vietnamese coffee company,” the New Yorker reports: Now, as drivers approach Exit 335 on I-80, they see billboards announcing the town’s rebranded name: PhinDeli Town Buford. (Officially, the town will remain Buford.) In one of the signs, a photo of Sammons has been replaced with an image of Nguyen, with his arms folded, wearing sunglasses. The other billboards show Nguyen and Sammons shaking hands and holding up a T-shirt, consummating the town’s handover. Other than that, little has changed so far in Buford. Nguyen’s marketing plan is predicated on the town’s enduring charm. Tourists can still pose in front of the population marker, which will remain at one; after the town’s relaunch, Nguyen planned to return to Saigon, where he lives with his wife and two children, but a caretaker will occupy Sammons’s old house. Two employees will work at the store and gas pumps. The convenience store, in addition to selling PhinDeli Town Buford trinkets, will now sell bags of PhinDeli coffee. Visitors can try samples while seated at a new coffee counter; on the wall behind it, a ten-foot painted mural illustrates PhinDeli’s manufacturing process in Vietnam. So, Buford has a colorful past as the only town in the U.S. with a population of one, but reports that it’s been purchased by a Saudi for a billion dollars have been totally fabricated. Comments

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0false

Business

32868

A photograph captures President Obama pointing at a nude painting of Donald Trump.

March 22, 2016

In other words, an artist’s imagined take of Donald Trump’s naked body was Photoshopped into an image which itself was a digitally manipulated photographed created to promote an art gallery exhibit:

Dan Evon

On 21 March 2016, a photograph purportedly showing President Obama pointing and laughing at a nude portrait of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump started circulating on Twitter. However, the photograph is a fake on multiple levels. First of all, the nude portrait of Donald Trump seen here is not something the GOP hopeful commissioned or posed for. It’s a sort of commentary” titled “Make America Great Again” created by artist Illma Gore, who never saw Trump in the altogether: “Make America Great Again” was created to evoke a reaction from its audience, good or bad, about the significance we place on our physical selves. One should not feel emasculated by their penis size or vagina, as it does not define who you are. Your genitals do not define your gender, your power, or your status. Simply put, you can be a massive prick, despite what is in your pants. Second, President Obama didn’t encounter and react to Gore’s work in front of cameras. The image seen here is a manipulated one; in the original photograph, President Obama was pointing and laughing at works that incorporated images from Beavis and Butthead:   The original photograph of President Obama was uploaded to Reddit (in a subreddit called r/Photoshopbattles) on 12 March 2016,, where users were encouraged to creatively alter it. One of the participants inserted the painting of Trump into the original image, and the results were soon spread widely across the Internet. Finally, the photograph of President Obama pointing to works incorporating Beavis and Butthead characters, on which the Trump-version manipulation was based, has been disclaimed as well. Vincent Torres, the director of the Austin-area Guzu Gallery, averred that he created it to promote a series of art prints: An Austin area art gallery gets into Obama fever. The ‘Guzu Gallery’ is home to collectable art, collectible vinyl toys, art books, graphic novels, and Photoshop masters. Guzu Gallery Director Vincent X Torres is responsible for the altered image. He wanted to promote his ‘Half Human’ series of art prints and posted the image to Guzu’s Facebook page. The Guzu Gallery also hinted on Facebook that the image was not real:

https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshopbattles/comments/4a1oft/psbattle_obama_loves_beavis_and_butthead/d0wrhfu, https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2016/03/Screenshot-2016-03-21-at-9.07.12-PM.png, http://www.fox5ny.com/news/106152664-story, http://illmagore.com/work/#/make-america-great-again-1/, https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2016/03/obama-beavis-and-butthead.jpg, https://twitter.com/HalfHumanHeart, https://www.facebook.com/GuzuGallery/, https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2016/03/Screenshot-2016-03-21-at-9.12.35-PM.png

0false

Uncategorized, barack obama, donald trump

6565

In a twist, Colorado asks EPA to lower state’s air rating.

Colorado took the unusual step of inviting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to downgrade the air quality rating of the state’s biggest population center, and not everyone thinks that was a good idea.

Dan Elliott

The EPA held a hearing Friday on whether to lower the ozone status of Denver and eight other northern Colorado counties from “moderate” to “serious.” That would force the state to work harder to reduce harmful pollution but also bring tougher and costly regulations for businesses. The agency expects to decide by the end of the year. The EPA acted after Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said in March that Colorado would no longer ask for an exemption from EPA standards by claiming some of the pollution was drifting into the state from elsewhere. It’s time to stop “sugar-coating” Colorado’s air problems, he said last month. “Moving to ‘serious’ status finally helps us stop sweeping our air quality crisis under the rug and gives us additional tools to move urgently to make our air cleaner,” he said. But business groups say the state’s own data shows Colorado would meet EPA standards if not for pollution from other states and even other continents. Lowering the air rating would hurt the economy by increasing the cost of doing business, they say. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in direct and indirect costs,” Paul Seby, an attorney representing Defend Colorado, said in an interview before the hearing. Defend Colorado advocates for business and industry on state and federal regulation. Denver and the northern Colorado urban corridor have struggled to meet EPA ozone standards for 15 years. Ground-level ozone can aggravate asthma and contribute to early deaths from respiratory disease. It’s the main component of smog, and it’s created from pollution emitted by vehicles, industries, solvents and other sources. Clean-air advocates welcomed Polis’ decision to pull the state’s request for an exemption. “It’s a big deal,” said Christine Berg, Colorado field consultant for Moms Clean Air Force. “We know ozone pollution is particularly harmful for children.” At Friday’s hearing, several people told the EPA they blame ozone for their health problems. “I’m someone who never used to have breathing problems,” said Marie Venner, who lives in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. Now, it sometimes hurts to take a breath, she said. Seby said Polis’ decision was based on politics, not facts. Polis’ predecessor, Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper — who ended his presidential bid last month and is now running for the U.S. Senate — had asked for the exemption based on data showing that pollution elsewhere and forest fire smoke from other states had pushed Colorado over the limit, Seby said. “Gov. Polis came into office and the exact opposite came about,” Seby said. “The data didn’t change, the science didn’t change — except for the politics.” Seby said hundreds of businesses and institutions could be affected if Colorado’s air rating is downgraded: oil and gas drilling, refineries, large breweries, print shops, wastewater treatment plants and hospitals. Anna Unruh, an air quality consultant for Trinity Consultants, which helps businesses get environmental permits and comply with regulations, agreed that a lower rating would complicate life for businesses and industry. New businesses and expansion projects might have to go through a longer, more rigorous process to get permits, she said. Existing operations might have to get an additional permit. More businesses would have to devote employee time to monitoring and reporting on their pollution. “Permitting definitely will get more difficult,” she said in an interview. Failing to act on dirty air also has economic costs, especially to Colorado’s vital tourism economy said Robert Ukeiley, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. Nitrogen and other pollutants are affecting the environment and the views in Rocky Mountain National Park, the third-most-visited park in the nation, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of downtown Denver. “People don’t want to go to a national park and look at smog,” Ukeiley told the EPA at Friday’s hearing. In addition to Denver, counties affected by the change are Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld. ___ Follow Dan Elliott at http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP .

http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP

2true

U.S. News, Colorado, General News, Jared Polis, Denver, Environment, Business, Air quality, Pollution

7360

Georgia aims to ease virus spread among Hispanic residents.

“No Mask! No Service! No Mascara! No Servicio!” say the stickers, posters and T-shirts going up across northeast Georgia, as community leaders try to rally people to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which recently flared up in the region and threatened to level the state’s huge poultry processing industry.

Jeff Amy

At La Flor de Jalisco #2 supermarket in the heart of Gainesville’s large Spanish-speaking community, hundreds of people drove up or walked up Friday to be tested for COVID-19. Shoppers wearing masks trickled in and out of the store. It’s part of an effort aimed at tamping down the spread of disease in an area where an outbreak alarmed officials. Gainesville’s Hall County and neighboring Habersham County have the highest infection rates in north Georgia, which prompted Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration to begin focusing on the region in late April. The Republican governor visited Gainesville Friday to highlight the effort, with local leaders saying they believed community outreach and infection-control efforts had begun to control the disease. It had threatened to overwhelm local nurses and take down the nation’s largest concentration of chicken processing plants. As poultry industry officials proudly noted Friday, Georgia is the nation’s largest chicken producer, a $41 billion industry that employs more than 45,000 people statewide and turns out 15% of U.S. production. Kemp’s visit came as Georgia neared 37,000 overall infections and had more than 1,550 deaths. The state recently surpassed 300,000 tests, which Kemp hailed as a milestone in efforts to locate virus cases. The latest testing figure represents close to 3% of the state’s population. But an Associated Press analysis found Georgia was among 41 states that are falling short of the COVID-19 testing levels that public health experts say are necessary to safely ease lockdowns and avoid another deadly wave of outbreaks. The spread of the virus claimed two workers at the Fieldale Farms Corp. poultry complex in nearby Cornelia as well as a nurse at the Gainesville hospital, among 56 confirmed deaths in Hall and Habersham counties. Norma Hernandez, an accountant who heads the Northeast Georgia Latino Chamber of Commerce, said that over the past two weeks, community leaders have worked to present a message from people that Spanish speakers will trust. “We need to make it simple. And the main thing is, let’s get healthy. Let’s get back to work,” Hernandez said. “And how are we gonna do that? We’re gonna do it by taking care of each other, taking responsibility for yourself. Because if you are careful, then you will not get infected and then you will not bring it home.” Besides testing, a company was sanitizing taxis for free outside the grocery store. Hernandez said she and others have handed out 3,000 masks to stores so they can force customers to don them before entering. Hernandez said she’s been counseling businesses to stay closed, but many stores were open Friday. State Insurance Commissioner John King and others say they’ve been trying to warn Latinos not to have large gatherings. Fieldale Farms executives said they saw a spike in cases in the weeks after families got together on Easter. “This community has embraced what we’ve asked them to do, not only in the plants, but in the communities — with social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, and helping us to flatten the curve and stop the spread,” Kemp said. Concerns have been widespread nationwide about the spread of the virus in meatpacking plants. Poultry plants in Georgia have soldiered on, under orders from President Trump to stay open, even as workers’ groups have voiced concerns that workers could be sacrificed and conditions could lead to widespread outbreaks. “I’m proud of how quickly the industry has responded, but even more so I’m proud of the workers, essential workers, that continue to come to work and provide food for America,” said Georgia Poultry Federation President Mike Giles. Executives at an 800-worker Fieldale Farms plant in Gainesville that prepares chicken slaughtered elsewhere for fast-food restaurants said they have taken typical precautions. Those include having partitions between workers and in breakrooms, taking temperatures of everyone who comes on property and wiping down vending machines and other surfaces. Vice President for Operations John Wright said of 17 cases at the plant, 11 workers have returned to work. The privately held company has seen 200 cases among 5,000 employees in facilities scattered over six Georgia counties, and says 75% have returned to work. Wright said that the company has paid employees with symptoms to stay home for 14 days or more. “We’re glad to be on what we believe to be the waning end of this pandemic, and we’ll remain vigilant, until it’s eradicated or no more exists,” Wright said. ___ Writer Sudhin Thanawala contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak or https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

/82c41087a018765006f74a789ca5a9a9

2true

Georgia, Health, General News, Gainesville, Hispanics, Virus Outbreak

28411

"A ""liberal Democrat"" judge released on bond a Muslim extremist who trained children at a New Mexico compound to become school shooters."

August 15, 2018

What's true: A New Mexico judge denied prosecutors' request that five defendants be held without bond, because the standards required for denying bail under state law had not been met. What's false: The judge did not allow the release of Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, who allegedly trained a child to carry out school shootings, as he is being held on a detainer from Georgia.

Bethania Palma

Beginning on 13 August 2018, social media outrage erupted over news reports that a New Mexico judge was allowing release on bond for defendants accused of abusing children at a squalid “compound” near the Colorado border. Most of the outrage centered on a smiling photograph of Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, who has been the focus of sensational reports that he allegedly trained a child at the compound to carry out school shootings: Wahhaj is one of five defendants in a group that include his sisters Hujrah, 37, and Subhannah, 35; his wife Jany Leveille, 35; and Lucas Morton, 40; who are charged with 11 counts of child abuse stemming from neglect. Wahhaj additionally faces a count originating from Clayton County, Georgia, of custodial interference. All five were arrested in a 4 August 2018 SWAT raid on what the news media has termed a “compound” in an unincorporated New Mexico community called Amalia. Authorities also discovered the body of a small child believed to be Wahhaj’s son on the grounds, but the cause of death has not yet been determined. The case involves a number of combustible aspects that have lent it extreme notoriety, including potential murder, abuse of children, religion, and race — all the defendants are Muslim and African-American (except for Leveille, who is is a Haitian national). Lurid accounts of supernatural religious “rituals” taking place at the compound and accusations that Wahhaj was training a child in weapons and tactics to carry out a future school shooting have also been reported. Prosecutors in the case filed a motion for all five defendants to be held in pretrial custody, but when Eighth Judicial District court Judge Sarah Backus (who is an elected Democrat) denied their request, the Internet went collectively ballistic. Facebook and Twitter users shared memes and posted messages featuring Siraj Ibn Wahhaj’s image and raging that he would be released despite being a “Muslim extremist” who may have killed his child and trained children to shoot up schools: New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez weighed in with a statement saying the “dangerous accused criminals in the Taos compound case should never have been released on bail yesterday.” (A spokesman for Martinez didn’t respond to our request for comment.) Backus and the Taos County courthouse received death threats, prompting authorities to place the building on lockdown on 14 August 2018. New Mexico State Police are investigating the continuing death threats, said Barry Massey, spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts. Siraj Ibn Wahhaj’s defense attorney, Tom Clark, told us content being posted about the defendants amounts to hate speech. “It’s really hard when the court of public opinion has already spoken,” he told us by phone. “They’re black Muslims accused of vague allegations of terror. We’re supposed to have moved beyond public lynchings but that’s what these people on the Internet are calling for.” The fury, however intense and self-righteous, didn’t take into account the reality of the case. Backus’s order, filed 14 August 2018, states that Siraj Ibn Wahhaj “is held on a detainer from Georgia and will not be released.” Leveille will also not be released on bond, as her custody was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on 14 August 2018. According to immigration authorities, she has been living unlawfully in the United States for more than 20 years after overstaying a visitor’s visa. We called the Taos County Adult Detention Center where all five defendants are being held, and we were told that as of mid-afternoon on 15 August 2018, none of the remaining three defendants had yet bonded out. If any of those defendants are to be released, they must first post a $20,000 signature bond and will remain under house arrest, according to the judge’s order. They will be fitted with electronic monitoring devices which they must wear around the clock and will be prohibited from leaving Taos County without permission from the court. They must meet weekly with attorneys, attend all scheduled court appearances, and may not possess firearms or deadly weapons. They are barred from having contact with the children, who are in protective custody, without supervision from child protective services. Because New Mexico voters and state legislature passed pretrial release and detention reform in 2016, Backus was limited in her leeway when deciding whether to grant bond. According to the amendment to the state constitution, judges can deny bail if a defendant poses a danger to the public or a flight risk, but the burden is on prosecutors to provide “clear and convincing evidence” that such is the case. Bail can only be denied in cases involving capital crimes, or when “no release conditions will reasonably ensure the appearance of the person [in court] as required or protect the safety of any other person or the community.” Defendants cannot be held simply because they can’t afford the bail amount. According her order turning down the prosecution’s motion to deny bond, Backus said prosecutors didn’t provide “clear and convincing evidence” that the defendants other than Siraj Ibn Wahhaj (who would not be released in any case) needed to be held in detention because they were dangerous, or that no conditions of release would ensure the safety of the community. “It is an extremely high standard of proof and the State has failed to meet this standard,” she wrote. The order also noted that none of the defendants were charged in the death of the child or any crimes related to firearms. They also haven’t been charged with making terrorist threats, and the state didn’t produce evidence they were hatching a substantive terrorism plan. Backus criticized prosecutors for asking the court to rely on media reports and “conjecture and assumption” to piece together evidence the defendants were sufficiently dangerous. “From this meager evidence the court is requested by the state to surmise that these people are dangerous terrorists with a plot against the country or institutions. The court may not surmise, guess or assume,” she wrote. Siraj Ibn Wahhaj is accused of taking his 3-year-old son, Abdul-ghani, away from his mother in Clayton County, Georgia, in December 2017. The child was diagnosed a severe condition known as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy that left him unable to walk, prone to seizures, and in need of constant care. Wahhaj told his wife before allegedly absconding with the boy that he wanted to perform an exorcism because he believed the child to be possessed by the devil, according to court documents. The allegation that Wahhaj trained a child to commit a school shooting was made by a foster parent caring for one of the children taken from the compound, according to court documents, but Backus’s order notes that prosecutors didn’t offer any evidence to support that assertion. (Von Chelet Leveille, brother of Jany, maintained that the two older children asked to be taught to shoot and that the family’s use of firearms was legal and innocent.) Claims of religious “rituals” were also made by prosecutor’s during the Monday pretrial detention hearing, but Backus’s order stated that no evidence beyond the defendants’ praying over the deceased child had been presented to support those claims. A preliminary hearing will be held within 60 days to determine if sufficient evidence exists to make the defendants stand trial.

1mixture

Politics

23311

Alan Grayson Says Daniel Webster thinks wives should submit to their husbands.

September 28, 2010

Alan Grayson calls opponent 'Taliban Dan Webster' in stinging new TV ad

Aaron Sharockman

"U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson -- the man who described the Republican Party's health care plan as ""die quickly"" and who later equated the health care system to an American holocaust, who suggested former vice president Dick Cheney was a vampire who could turn into a bat and fly away at a moment's notice, and who said putting Republicans in charge of government was akin to making members of al-Qaida pilots  -- is making another series of eye-catching claims. Grayson, an Orlando-area Democrat facing a difficult re-election fight against former Florida House speaker Daniel Webster, launched a stinging television attack Sept. 25, 2010. The title of his advertisement? ""Taliban Dan Webster."" (We guess we should note in fairness that the ad starts out pleasantly enough -- with Grayson's disclaimer saying he approved of the message and a picture of him smiling and holding two of his children). The meat of the ad is a back-and-forth between a female narrator and Webster, speaking his own words. Here's the transcript: Female narrator: (Speaking over images of terrorists holding guns and people burning the American flag) ""Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in Central Florida."" Webster: (Black-and-white video, dressed in a suit, holding a microphone) ""Wives submit yourself to your own husband."" Female narrator: ""Daniel Webster wants to impose his radical fundamentalism on us."" Background type: Daniel Webster wants to MAKE DIVORCE ILLEGAL. Webster: ""You should submit to me. That's in the Bible."" Female narrator: ""Webster tried to deny battered women medical care and the right to divorce their abusers."" Webster: ""Submit to me."" Female narrator: ""He wants to force raped women to bear the child."" Webster: ""Submit to me."" Female narrator: ""Taliban Daniel Webster. Hands off our bodies. And our laws."" The ad is fertile ground for fact-checkers and produced rebukes from Webster's wife, Sandy Webster, and Webster campaign manager Brian Graham. ""Alan Grayson's latest attack on my husband is shameful,"" Sandy Webster said in statement. ""Mr. Grayson seems to have a problem telling the truth and no problem misleading the public. Dan has been an amazing husband and father and the finest man I have ever known. Mr. Grayson should be ashamed of his nasty smears against my husband."" We decided to immediately check to see if Grayson is correctly quoting Webster, and we will fact-check the other claims in another report to be posted quickly. Grayson spokesman Sam Drzymala said the audio and video of Webster come from a speech he made for the Institute in Basic Life Principles, which Drzymala described as a ""right-wing cult."" The Institute in Basic Life Principles describes itself as a Christian teaching organization that provides training and instruction on how to find success by following God’s principles found in Scripture. Some of its specific teachings are controversial. Among them, the Institute teaches that a mother violates Scripture when she works outside the home, that married couples are to abstain from sex 40 days after the birth of a son, 80 days after the birth of a daughter and the evening prior to worship, and that people should avoid rock and even contemporary Christian music because it can be addictive. Webster has been involved with the group for nearly 30 years and continues to participate in training and also speaks at seminars. In a 2003 interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Webster said he home-schooled his six children on Institute curricula and said the group's teachings have had a major influence on his life. One of those Institute beliefs describes the complementary roles of a husband and wife. ""The man provides servant leadership and the woman responds with reverent submission and assistance,"" according to the group's website, which goes on to quote Ephesians 5:22–33 -- Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. . . . Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it . . . . Let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. According to the Institute, a wife is never supposed to ""take over,"" writing that ""in response to pressures within the family or within a marital relationship, a foolish wife will take matters into her own hands."" A wife also is to ""stay beautiful for her husband."" ""Resistance or indifference to your husband’s need for physical intimacy is the unspoken crushing of his spirit,"" the Institute says on its website. In other places on the website, the Institute talks about a wife's need to submit to a husband's spiritual leadership. In his 2003 interview with the Times, Webster declined to discuss specific teachings and whether he disagreed with any of them. ""I believe what I believe,"" he said in the 2003 interview. ""It has not affected the way I've served. I don't think anyone can tell you that I've forced my beliefs on anyone else."" Bill Gothard, founder and president of the Institute, said the image and video of Webster was taken from a talk to fathers at the group's 2009 Advanced Training Institute Conference in Nashville. The Advanced Training Institute is a home-education curriculum provided by the Institute in Basic Life Principles. In an interview with PolitiFact Florida, Gothard said the quote is severely distorted and manipulated. ""It couldn't be any more starkly misused,"" Gothard said. ""That gets my adrenaline up. A man who stoops to that level should not be in any office."" Gothard said Webster was leading a talk to a group of fathers and was discussing prayers they should say. Webster's point was that they shouldn't pray for their wives to do something, rather they should pray for what they could control in their own life. ""I am stunned how he could have taken what Daniel said, and turned it around to say the opposite of what Daniel was saying,"" Gothard said. PolitiFact Florida asked for, and received, a video with Webster's extended comments. The video confirms Gothard's recollection of the 2009 speech. ""Have verses for (your) wife. I have verses for my wife,"" Webster said in an unedited excerpt provided by the Institute. ""Don't pick the ones that say, 'she should submit to me.' That's in the Bible, but pick the ones you're supposed to do (laughs). So instead (laughs) that you'd love your wife -- even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it ... and, as opposed to wives submit yourself to your own husband. She can pray that if she wants to, but don't you pray it."" Webster goes on to make the same point about praying for children. ""Pick out the ones that have your responsibility listed into it,"" Webster said. ""Yes, children are to obey their parents, but more importantly we're as fathers to, um, not provoke them to wrath."" So in his message Webster was telling fathers that they should not pray for the first half of the passage in Ephesians (Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands) but pray for the second (Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it). The Grayson ad clearly suggests that Webster thinks wives should submit to their husbands, and the repeated refrain of ""Submit to me,"" is an effort to scare off potential female voters. But the lines in the video are clearly taken out of context thanks to some heavy-handed editing. The actual point of Webster's 2009 speech was that husbands should love their wives. Maybe Webster thinks wives should submit to their husbands. But there's no evidence in this ad, especially Webster's own words, to support that allegation."

http://store.iblp.org/products/CARM/, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42770.html, http://www.pfo.org/evol-fad.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKqxBInCPF0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvB-mHXcWzg, http://ati.iblp.org/ati/supportlink/kb/questions/99/How+can+I+meet+my+husband%27s+basic+needs%3F, http://ati.iblp.org/ati/supportlink/kb/questions/237/How+can+I+help+my+husband+take+on+spiritual+leadership%3F

0false

Candidate Biography, Marriage, Message Machine 2010, Florida, Alan Grayson,

1273

Novartis's cancer therapy wins UK backing after initial lymphoma snub.

February 1, 2019

Novartis’s Kymriah cell therapy won the blessing of health authorities in England for adult lymphoma patients, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday, reversing last year’s rejection.

The list price is 282,000 pounds ($369,000) per patient, given as a single intravenous infusion, but Novartis agreed to offer the therapy for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) at a confidential discounted price, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said. NICE had turned down a previous proposal from Novartis in September, saying it exceeded the level considered an acceptable use of resources. “Today’s positive announcement regarding access to Kymriah treatment in England and Wales was secured as a result of our close working collaboration with NICE and NHS England, with all parties showing flexibility,” Novartis said. DLBCL patients eligible for Kymriah have life expectancies of just months, after failing previous treatments. Novartis expects Kymriah to eventually top $1 billion in annual sales, though the drug has started modestly with $76 million in 2018. Over 2019, the company expects to increase commercial and clinical capacity for Kymriah four-fold after buying more production facilities and deals with partners. The Swiss firm hopes expanding its treatment geography will narrow the sales gap with Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta, which reaped $183 million in the first nine months of 2018. Novartis already has NICE’s go-ahead for children and young people with aggressive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) when other drugs have failed. The Basel-based company now has 26 treatment centers in the European Union and Kymriah is now commercially available to patients from 10 countries, it said. Kymriah belongs to a new class of treatments, like Yescarta, called CAR-T therapies where disease-fighting T cells are removed from a patient and genetically modified to better recognize and attack cancer. They are then re-infused into the same patient where they can circulate for years to seek out and fight the disease. Novartis is also working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to resolve a snag in which some batches of Kymriah did not meet commercial specifications, forcing the company to give it away for free to some patients. “We expect resolution ... soon,” a spokeswoman said.

2true

Health News

27007

"San Francisco has spent $72.5 million this fiscal year cleaning up human waste and drug paraphernalia"" and ""there are more drug users on their public needle program than high school graduates."

July 16, 2019

"Turning Point USA claimed that San Francisco has spent $72.5 million this fiscal year ""cleaning up human waste and drug paraphernalia"" and that ""there are more drug users on their public needle program than high school graduates."" Those claims are based on two San Francisco Chronicle articles — but Turning Point USA’s post misconstrues both the stories and the data backing them up. The Public Works Department said the $72.5 million figure is closer to its entire annual street cleaning budget and that it doesn’t keep track of how much money is spent for specific types of cleaning. The Public Health Department said there is no count of people who use its ""public needle program."" The statements are inaccurate."

Daniel Funke

"A viral photo on Facebook takes two San Francisco statistics out of context to make a point about government spending. In a post published July 1, Turning Point USA claimed that ""San Francisco has spent $72.5 million this fiscal year cleaning up human waste and drug paraphernalia."" It also claimed that there are ""more drug users on their public needle program than high school graduates."" ""Leftism has destroyed San Francisco,"" the meme reads. ""This is the left’s vision for America."" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Turning Point USA is a nonprofit founded by conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The organization has published images making fun of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former First Lady Michelle Obama in the past, some of which we have fact-checked. The group's claims about San Francisco amassed more than 20,000 likes, shares and comments on Facebook, so we wanted to know if they are accurate. First, PolitiFact reached out to Turning Point USA to ask for evidence supporting their claims. In an email, the organization sent us links to two San Francisco Chronicle articles from 2019. In the first article, which was published May 1, columnist Phil Matier wrote that the city spent ""a record-breaking $72.5 million"" on street cleaning in the 2018-19 fiscal year, an increase of $32 million over the past five years. He also wrote that ""reports of excrement — from both man and beast — on San Francisco’s sidewalks continue to rise."" But that doesn’t mean $72.5 million was spent cleaning up human waste or drug refuse alone, as Turning Point USA claimed. ""The number is roughly the department’s entire annual street cleaning budget, for everything from mechanical street cleaning, to encampment cleanups, to steam cleaning garbage cans, to sweeping up litter in neighborhood commercial corridors and much more,"" said Rachel Gordon, director of policy and communications for the San Francisco Public Works Department, in an email to PolitiFact. Gordon noted that $72 million is a working figure for how much the department will spend on street cleaning this year, as the department is still trying to account for street cleaning that’s done for other city departments. There is no available estimate for feces and drug-related cleaning alone, Gordon said. In its Facebook meme, Turning Point USA claimed ""there are more drug users on their public needle program than high school graduates"" in San Francisco. But that’s not quite right. The group sent over a second San Francisco Chronicle article about the city’s needle exchange program. In the Jan. 30 article, Matier wrote that ""San Francisco has more drug addicts than it has students enrolled in its public high schools."" As proof, he linked to a fact sheet from the San Francisco Unified School District. According to the data, there were 15,861 students enrolled in grades nine through 12 in SFUSD schools in 2018. In his article, Matier reported that there were 24,500 ""injection drug users"" in San Francisco. That’s based on estimates from the city’s health department, which did not provide PolitiFact with its survey results in time for this publication. But we found a similar number (24,492 injection drug users) in a 2018 study about hepatitis C in San Francisco. If Turning Point USA had claimed there were more drug users than high school students in San Francisco, it’d be correct. But it didn’t — the nonprofit claimed there are more drug users ""on their needle exchange program"" than high school graduates. And that’s . In an email to PolitiFact, Rachael Kagan, director of communications for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said that there is no such thing as a count of drug users on a ""public needle program."" The program that Turning Point USA’s photo alludes to is an initiative housed in the Department of Public Health. Since 1993, the city has provided access to clean syringes in an effort to limit the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. It also works with local nonprofits like the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to pick up used needles left on the streets. ""The sentence makes no sense,"" Kagan said of the Facebook post. Turning Point USA claimed that San Francisco has spent $72.5 million this fiscal year ""cleaning up human waste and drug paraphernalia"" and that ""there are more drug users on their public needle program than high school graduates."" Those claims are based on two San Francisco Chronicle articles — but Turning Point USA’s post misconstrues both the stories and the data backing them up. The Public Works Department said the $72.5 million figure is closer to its entire annual street cleaning budget and that it doesn’t keep track of how much money is spent for specific types of cleaning. The Public Health Department said there is no count of people who use its ""public needle program."" The statements are inaccurate."

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0195575&type=printable, https://www.facebook.com/turningpointusa/photos/a.376802782368444/2313510792030957/?type=3&theater, https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/syringe.asp, http://www.ktvu.com/news/ktvu-local-news/sf-mayor-announces-119-million-budget-allocation-to-help-keep-the-streets-clean, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/San-Francisco-where-street-addicts-outnumber-13571702.php?psid=c6ToB, https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/San-Franciscos-65-Million-Street-Cleaning-Budget-Raises-Concerns-at-City-Hall-479603853.html, https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-spent-54-million-street-cleanup-2018-9, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Cleaning-up-SF-s-Tenderloin-costs-a-lot-of-13808447.php, https://www.tpusa.com/aboutus/, http://www.sfusd.edu/en/assets/sfusd-staff/about-SFUSD/files/sfusd-facts-at-a-glance.pdf, https://www.politifact.com/personalities/turning-point-usa/

0false

City Budget, Drugs, Facebook Fact-checks, Turning Point USA,

7315

Chinese communities rattled by virus, cancel new year events.

The rapid spread of a new virus from China has cast a pall across Chinese American communities, with people staying inside whenever possible, wearing medical masks when they must go out and canceling some celebrations for Lunar New Year, China’s biggest holiday.

John Rogers

Those actions became the new normal this week, when the count neared 12,000 people infected by a new coronavirus that originated in China and spread to other countries. More than 250 have died in China. The precautions were on display Friday in a string of majority-Asian population cities in Southern California — Alhambra, San Gabriel and Arcadia — that are linked together just east of Los Angeles. “Business is way down. Everybody is staying inside and lots of people are wearing masks,” said Leo Peng at Beyond Services in Alhambra, a normally bustling business where people can notarize documents, get fingerprinted and use other services needed to obtain forms of identification. Peng himself says he has become diligent about washing his hands and is thinking about getting a mask, “although some people say they’re really not necessary.” Sitting just a few feet away at a computer terminal was Cynthia Bao, wearing a bright pink mask. “I never wear a mask, but I’m pregnant, and I don’t want to get the coronavirus or the flu or any virus,” she said. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, Hoa Nguyen and her husband were among the few people wearing masks as they waited at a bus stop carrying bags loaded with fruits and vegetables. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” she said. “In Chinatown, there’s a higher chance you might come across someone who has traveled to China recently.” While people are taking personal precautions, organizers are going a step further by canceling Lunar New Year celebrations in parts of the U.S. Sponsors of Saturday’s annual festival in Alhambra announced they were postponing it indefinitely. The event normally draws thousands and shuts down the city’s main thoroughfare for blocks, featuring a parade, games, music, food booths and other events. Other cancellations include a Lunar New Year Temple Bazaar this weekend in Flushing, Queens, home to New York City’s largest Chinatown; a Lunar New Year celebration Saturday at a high school in Rockville, Maryland; a Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday at the University of Arizona in Tucson; and festivities Friday in the city of Elk Grove, outside Sacramento. San Francisco still plans to go along with its celebration on Feb. 8, though officials said they are closely monitoring the outbreak. Gregg Orton, national director of the Washington-based National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, said it’s understandable that events are being canceled out of an abundance of caution. “We want to take this seriously but we don’t want to fall back into racism and hysteria at the end of the day,” Orton said. “We’re all in this together.” In Alhambra, many people supported canceling the festival. “I think that’s a good idea until we see that the virus is gone,” said Richard Vu who repairs cellphones at a shop on the edge of the festival’s parade route. He said he’s trying to keep his distance from customers and uses hand sanitizer after handling each phone. He usually wears a mask, too, but forgot it Friday. When he tried to buy another at a pharmacy, he found they were sold out, a common experience that others cited. “They say they won’t have any more until March,” Vu said. Pharmacies in Manhattan’s Chinatown and other neighborhoods also have reported being out of masks. Officials gathered at a hotel in San Gabriel, a city neighboring Alhambra, said it’s important to take precautions but that people should not panic. “At this point, we are not in the same situation as China,” Dr. Munto Davis of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health told reporters. “We do not have thousands of cases inside the United States.” There are seven cases: three in California, one in Washington state, one in Arizona and two in Chicago. Meanwhile, a main drag in Alhambra that is lined for miles with upscale restaurants, hipster bars and tea houses, was unusually quiet Friday. A sprawling parking lot, a difficult place to find a parking spot on any day, was only half-filled and business was slow at the huge 168 Market, part of a popular Asian chain of grocery stores. People seemed to be heeding the advice of medical professionals, being careful but not panicking while expressing hope that others wouldn’t blame every Asian person for the outbreak. “The racism has been something,” Bao said with disgust. “I sort of get it,” she added. “We’re Chinese, and we don’t know who has been to China and who hasn’t. But you don’t need to make remarks about it.” To which Peng added: “I hope everybody would work together and not discriminate against one group of people.” ___ Associated Press reporters Daisy Nguyen in San Francisco and Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this story.

/4c2e04ef113497607ff8e9302fac6a5d,/9e22f8aabe2f454593b9f9b4c67eb31f,/86d5776eb83a8921c6e80100fdc223eb

2true

Los Angeles, Health, General News, Asia, Holidays, China, Coronavirus, California, Virus Outbreak, U.S. News

32512

DNC staffer Seth Rich was gunned down to prevent him from meeting with the FBI over plans to testify against Hillary Clinton.

July 14, 2016

While it’s true police maintain an open investigation into Seth Rich’s death, the claim connecting him to Hillary Clinton was the third of its sort to emerge from the same conspiracy-monger in mid-2016. All those rumors were variations on the long-circulating (and false) “body bags” claims that the Clintons habitually do away with once-loyal associates turned political liabilities. Prior to publishing the trio of Clinton-related fabrications, the same site and blogger held that President Obama had ordered the military to nuke the city of Charleston (which didn’t happen), that Rear Admiral Rick Williams was fired because he revealed Obama’s purchase of a mansion in Dubai (Williams was actually terminated for misconduct), and that Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama were enmeshed in a potentially conflict-starting dispute over the practices of the Monsanto agribusiness corporation.

Kim LaCapria

On 10 July 2016, Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Conrad Rich was shot and killed just after 4 AM in Washington, D.C. Rich’s tragic death was undoubtedly destined to feed a number of conspiracy theories due to his line of work and the proximity of the 2016 presidential election. Among those theories were myriad conflicting claims that Rich was covertly working to expose election fraud, collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on an unspecified investigation, or a recycled assertion that he was imminently to testify against Hillary Clinton when he was gunned down. (No ongoing court case we could locate would involve any such testimony from Rich.) On 13 July 2016, the notoriously unreliable conspiracy-flogging outlet WhatDoesItMean.com hoovered up the fresh tragedy as part of what appeared to be a series of articles capitalizing on recent deaths to drive conspiracies about Hillary Clinton. Describing the 27-year-old Rich as a “top” DNC “official,” the site blared that he was bumped off by a Clinton “hit team”: Assassination Of Top US Democratic Party Official Leads To FBI Capture Of Clinton “Hit Team” A somber Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report circulating in the Kremlin today says that a top American Democratic Party staffer preparing to testify against Hillary Clinton was assassinated this past Sunday during a secret meeting in Washington D.C. he believed he was having with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, but who turned out, instead, to be a “hit team”—and who, in turn, were captured yesterday after a running gun battle with US federal police forces just blocks from the White House. [Note: Some words and/or phrases appearing in quotes are English language approximations of Russian words/phrases having no exact counterpart.] This SVR report, though, says that DNC official Seth Rich was “lured/enticed” to his murder by this Clinton “hit team” who portrayed themselves as FBI agents wanting to secretly interview him—and that the expelled Russian diplomats had given the US State Department “electronic access” to so that they could be found. Curiously, this report continues, US authorities, and while being able to track this Clinton “hit team” since 7 July, only confronted these assassins yesterday—and who before being captured, engaged in a gun battle with US federal police forces firing their fully automatic weapons before being trapped and surrendering just blocks from the US Capitol and White House. In short, WhatDoesItMean.com held that Rich was under the impression he was to meet with FBI agents (at the bizarre hour of 4:00 AM) but in actuality had been set up for a fatal encounter with hit men working on behalf of Hillary Clinton. The site correctly quoted a D.C. Metro police press release, as we contacted the department and confirmed that release contained all known information about Rich’s death: Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred in the 2100 block of Flagler Place, Northwest on Sunday, July 10, 2016. At approximately 4:19 am, members of the Fifth District were patrolling the area when they heard gunshots. Upon arrival on the scene, members located an adult male victim conscious and breathing, and suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to an area hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead. The decedent has been identified as 27-year-old Seth Conrad Rich, of Northwest, DC. Police reported that Rich was conscious and breathing at the time of the shooting. Had he any information about his murder having been a set-up, he likely would have conveyed such to attending officer before he died of his wounds shortly thereafter. Contemporaneous news reports suggested that Rich’s murder was indeed perplexing, as elements of the incident were dissonant with the appearance of a robbery gone awry: “If it was a robbery — it failed because he still has his watch, he still has his money — he still has his credit cards, still had his phone so it was a wasted effort except we lost a life,” said Joel Rich, Seth’s father. Immediately after that portion, the article quoted the elder Rich regarding the moments prior to his son’s death. According to Joel Rich, Seth was on the phone with his girlfriend when the shooting started, and Rich indicated to his girlfriend that he was nearly home and not headed out for an FBI meeting implausibly scheduled in the middle of the night on a Saturday: Rich said Seth was talking to his girlfriend on the phone outside when the incident happened. “Asked him if he was home yet and he said just about, and then she heard some noise, he said he had to call her back — I don’t know when that conversation ended but at 4:18 two shots were fired,” said Rich. According to Washington, D.C. television station WUSA, a string of robberies had occurred in the area where Rich was killed, and police believe that spate of crime was likely connected with his death. The station also reported that the 27-year-old staffer worked in voter expansion, helping people “find their polling places”; Rich’s age and the relatively minor scope of his duties made him an unlikely linchpin in a conspiracy involving election fraud or any purported testimony against Hillary Clinton. The young staffer had only been employed with the DNC, where he was a Voter Expansion Data Director, since 2014, making his position and tenure an unlikely match-up with possession of crucial information for which he was supposedly killed. Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Alice Kim said “there is no indication that Seth Rich’s death is connected to his employment at the DNC.” Slate also noted that the conspiracy theory version of Rich’s death was lacking in both evidence and sense, yet WikiLeaks has since fanned the flames of speculation by offering a $20,000 reward for information about Rich’s killer: Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks organization appear to be actively encouraging a conspiracy theory that a Democratic National Committee staffer was murdered for nefarious political purposes, perhaps by Hillary Clinton. Seth Rich was killed in Washington, D.C., in an early morning shooting that police have speculated was a failed robbery. Because Rich did voter outreach for the DNC and because we live in a ridiculous world, conspiracy theorists have glommed on to a fantastical story that Rich was an FBI informant meeting with purported agents who were actually a hit team sent by Hillary Clinton. There is of course absolutely zero evidence for this. The fact that the idea is so absurd, though, has not stopped Assange from suggesting that Rich was murdered for nefarious political purposes either because he was an informant for the FBI or because he may have been a source in last month’s WikiLeaks release of thousands of DNC emails. Rich’s hometown newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald, also observed the lack of any substance to such rumors: Fevered political conspiracy theories about the death of Seth Rich have been swirling through online comment sections and websites ever since the Omaha native was gunned down early on July 10 close to his home in northwest Washington, D.C. All indications from police have been that Rich’s death was most likely the result of a botched robbery — a sadly too-common case of a promising young man cut down simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that hasn’t stopped wild Internet speculation from going viral, based in part on the fact that Rich worked at the Democratic National Committee. Internet commenters have suggested that Rich was behind the disclosure of DNC emails to WikiLeaks that helped force the resignation of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida as chairwoman. The conspiracy theorists got new ammunition when WikiLeaks announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in Rich’s death. Never mind the evidence in favor of a robbery, the fact that the leaked emails were released well after his death or even that WikiLeaks itself stressed that the reward should not be taken as an implication that Rich was involved in the email leak. A spokesman for the Rich family said that people “attempting to politicize this horrible tragedy” are “causing more harm than good”: [S]ome are attempting to politicize this horrible tragedy, and in their attempts to do so, are actually causing more harm than good and impeding on the ability for law enforcement to properly do their job. For the sake of finding Seth’s killer, and for the sake of giving the family the space they need at this terrible time, they are asking for the public to refrain from pushing unproven and harmful theories about Seth’s murder. Rich was the second deceased individual “connected” to Clinton by WhatDoesItMean.com and the third inaccurately reported as endangered by the candidate. The same outlet falsely claimed hacker Guccifer (Marcel Lazăr Lehel) was missing and presumed dead after he purportedly hacked into Clinton’s e-mail, and just prior to that the site claimed former UN official John Ashe had been murdered on the eve of his providing scheduled testimony against Clinton. Guccifer was confirmed alive and well by officials at the facility in which he was housed, and a federal prosecutor’s office affirmed Ashe’s legal troubles were in no way connected to Clinton. A common thread between the three rumors was a blogger known by the nom de plume “Sorcha Faal.” RationalWiki describes Faal’s WhatDoesItMean.com conspiracy site as “sensational” and “outrageous”: Sorcha Faal is the alleged author of an ongoing series of “reports” published at WhatDoesItMean.com, whose work is of such quality that even other conspiracy nutters don’t think much of it. Each report resembles a news story in its style but usually includes a sensational headline barely related to reality and quotes authoritative high-level Russian sources (such as the Russian Federal Security Service) to support its most outrageous claims. Except for the stuff attributed to unverifiable sources, the reports don’t contain much original material. They are usually based on various news items from the mainstream media and/or whatever the clogosphere is currently hyperventilating about, with each item shoehorned into the conspiracy narrative the report is trying to establish.

0false

Politics Conspiracy Theories, clinton body count, DNC, seth rich

7322

Nevada has 94 new coronavirus cases, pushing total to 1,836.

Nevada is reporting 94 new coronavirus cases, pushing the statewide total to 1,836, but the state Health and Human Services Department’s website shows the death toll remaining at 46.

The state had 1,742 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Saturday. Most of the cases and deaths have been in Clark County, which is Nevada’s most populous and includes metro Las Vegas. Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Saturday that the federal government has approved Nevada’s request to declare a major disaster declaration for the state. He said that move will unlock additional federal assistance for residents affected by the coronavirus pandemic. On March 12, Sisolak signed a state declaration of emergency, which is a required step to request a federal major disaster declaration. Sisolak’s request asked for help under a variety of programs, including assistance for unemployment, legal services, crisis counseling and mass care and emergency assistance. Federal help is needed because the public health crisis “is beyond the capabilities of the state, local and tribal governments,” Sisolak said. Most people with the virus experience mild or moderate fever and coughing for two to three weeks. Some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, can face severe illness including pneumonia and death.

2true

Health, General News, Virus Outbreak, Las Vegas, Nevada

19408

"Barack Obama Says he ""will protect your guaranteed benefits"" in Medicare while ""Mitt Romney would take away Medicare as guaranteed benefits."

September 17, 2012

"In the ad, Obama said he ""will protect your guaranteed benefits"" in Medicare, while ""Mitt Romney would take away Medicare as guaranteed benefits."" Obama exaggerates when he refers to ""guaranteed"" Medicare benefits under today’s system. Currently, Medicare does ""guarantee"" a form of health coverage for seniors and, in the shorter term, guarantees specific benefits. But Medicare doesn’t cover everything, and Congress and the president can change what is covered, and will be forced to do so when fiscal pressures hit. Meanwhile, it’s plausible that the Romney plan could provide less of a ""guarantee"" than Medicare currently does, but we found sharp disagreement between supporters and opponents of Romney’s Medicare plan on that point. This disagreement is hard to resolve given the shortage of information Romney has so far provided."

Louis Jacobson

"A new ad from President Barack Obama emphasizes a favorite Democratic talking point -- that Medicare currently has ""guaranteed benefits"" that could be taken away if Mitt Romney wins the presidency. In the ad, a narrator says, ""The new AARP Voter Guide is out with facts you need on Medicare. Fact: Barack Obama will protect your guaranteed benefits and will not allow Medicare to become a voucher program. Fact: Mitt Romney would take away Medicare as guaranteed benefits and instead give future retirees ‘premium support’ or vouchers. AARP opposes that plan and non-partisan analysts say it could raise seniors' costs up to $6,400 a year."" But are there ""guaranteed benefits"" for Medicare today? And if so, would they be at risk if Romney wins? A lot of it depends on how you define these words. What guarantees exist under Medicare today? Probably the clearest -- and least controversial -- explanation of how Medicare is a guarantee is that once you turn 65, you get Medicare, no questions asked. That wasn’t always the case. Before Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965, health coverage for seniors was far from guaranteed. When people retired, they often lost coverage they had from their former employer and couldn’t afford a new plan. (For more on the pre-Medicare era, including statistics, see our article, ""Were the early 1960s a golden age for health care?"") The Obama campaign goes further. It argues that ""guaranteed benefits"" refers to ""all the benefits that Medicare is required to cover."" Today, Medicare is structured as a defined-benefit plan rather than a defined-contribution plan. That means it specifies the benefits provided, rather than letting one’s benefits depend on the amount of money they paid into the system. ""As a system of defined benefits, Medicare does guarantee those benefits,"" said Paul Starr, a specialist on health care reform at Princeton University. ""The government has a responsibility for them that it would not have in a defined-contribution scheme. There are a host of legal rights in regard to providers that are also associated with those guaranteed benefits. All that goes away with the shift to defined contribution."" Is there a complete guarantee of benefits? No, Medicare benefits aren’t guaranteed in every sense. First, while the federal government guarantees that you will be served by Medicare once you turn 65, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get every possible service or treatment paid for. Indeed, an entire industry sector -- Medigap insurance plans -- has emerged to pay for the procedures that Medicare doesn’t cover. This is particularly true for the coverage for newly emergent technologies and treatments. And just because something is covered today doesn’t mean it will be covered indefinitely, or at the same percentage of the cost. Congress and the president can -- and do -- change the benefit rules for Medicare. In 1988, for example, Congress enacted the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, adding a bevy of benefits, including a prescription drug benefit and a catastrophic-care benefit, said Robert Moffit, a health care specialist at the conservative Heritage Foundation. The following year, Congress repealed it. Obama’s own health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, doesn’t maintain the status quo indefinitely. While we have previously said that the Romney campaign is exaggerating when it criticizes Obama for cutting Medicare, the Romney campaign isn’t wrong that changesare going to be made. The fact that Obama would reduce Medicare reimbursement to certain Medicare providers -- likely resulting in the elimination or reduction of some benefits -- is proof positive that Medicare is not a fixed, unchangeable program. Obama’s law also creates the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a 15-member, appointed panel that is charged with identifying Medicare savings. While PolitiFact has in the past been critical of Republican exaggerations about what the board would do, the board could force certain changes in the Medicare program. Any such future changes would undermine the notion that Medicare has ""guaranteed benefits."" ""If you are promised a benefit but find trouble accessing physicians or home care or long-term-care providers to provide that service, have your benefits been changed or compromised?"" said Gail Wilensky, a former health care official under President George H.W. Bush. ""I think a reasonable person could say yes."" Another important factor that could infringe on any Medicare ""guarantee"" is the program’s fiscal challenges. According to Medicare’s actuary, the trust fund for Medicare Part A -- the part of the program that pays for hospital care -- will run out in 2024 if the Obama law’s cuts remain on the books, or in 2016 if the cuts are rescinded (the course Romney has said he wants to follow). So unless something is done to change the program’s fiscal balance, Medicare would spend down its reserves for hospital payments within eight to 16 years. ""If you define guarantee benefit as simply receiving a Medicare card, then that only lasts until the money runs out,"" said Joshua Archambault, a former Romney aide who is now a health care policy specialist at the free-market Pioneer Institute. ""So I guess the president can make that claim until 2016 … but then he loses it."" Even health care experts who are supportive of Obama’s law do acknowledge that the concept of a Medicare ""guarantee"" may be too strongly worded. ""So long as the law is in place, people who meet specified eligibility requirements are assured specified benefits,"" said Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Still, ""nothing in the statutes is ‘guaranteed,’ because Congress always has the option of changing the law."" Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who has advised both Obama and Romney on health care reform, agreed. ""Under today's system, you have a guaranteed benefit, but one that is subject to political risk,"" he said. How Romney would change Medicare As for Romney’s plan, it’s important to note that it has not been been set out in full detail, and it hasn’t been analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office. But we’ll explain it as best we can. Romney has said his plan would be close to the most recent one offered by his running mate, Paul Ryan. For people who are now under age 55, Medicare would no longer pay for seniors’ health care bills directly. Instead, the government would offer future beneficiaries fixed payments -- voucher-like credits -- that could go toward private plans. Beneficiaries could use those credits to select a traditional Medicare plan or a private plan from a competitive marketplace, or exchange, that complies with standards set by the government. The amount a beneficiary receives would be based on the second least-expensive plan available. We know that the Romney plan, like the status quo, would preserve the guarantee that people will start receiving coverage under a federal health care program when they turn 65. (The age threshold would gradually rise to 67 by 2034.) Less clear is whether the operational changes Romney would make would undermine the guarantee of benefits under Medicare. The Romney campaign argues that not only would be traditional Medicare be a choice, but that private plan offerings must provide coverage at least comparable to what Medicare provides today, and that those plans would be Medicare-approved. However, since CBO hasn’t weighed in, we don’t know whether the premium subsidy would be able to cover the same set of benefits as traditional Medicare, or how much it would add to out-of-pocket costs to beneficiaries, especially over the longer term. The Obama campaign argues that ""Romney has said that under his voucher system, plans have to offer coverage that is ‘comparable’ to Medicare today"" -- a term they believe falls short of a guarantee of specific benefits. But Yuval Levin, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a domestic policy staffer on health-care issues for President George W. Bush, says that’s a smokescreen. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services ""establishes the benefits covered by Medicare each year, and the private insurers in Medicare Advantage and Part D, the drug benefit, are required to cover at least that minimum benefit or its actuarial equivalent. That's exactly the Romney proposal."" Under the most recent plan, Levin said, ""seniors are guaranteed at least one and generally two options that provide comprehensive coverage for no greater out-of-pocket costs than they have now."" Levin also disputes the notion that the Romney plan is a pure defined-contribution plan. ""The Romney approach is a hybrid of defined benefit and defined contribution,"" he said. ""The minimum benefit is set by the government, and all competing insurers must meet it, but the government payment is determined by competitive bidding among those insurers to see how cheaply they can provide at least that minimum benefit."" The most recent Republican plans have lessened the likelihood that Medicare’s payment will fall behind the actual rise in health care costs, experts say, but given the limited details, there’s still some uncertainty on this front. Under the Romney plan, MIT’s Gruber said, you have the same political risk of a broken guarantee as you have today, but that guarantee is compounded by health spending risk. ""As health spending rises faster than your voucher, you are in trouble,"" he said. Our ruling In the ad, Obama said he ""will protect your guaranteed benefits"" in Medicare, while ""Mitt Romney would take away Medicare as guaranteed benefits."" Obama exaggerates when he refers to ""guaranteed"" Medicare benefits under today’s system. Currently, Medicare does ""guarantee"" a form of health coverage for seniors and, in the shorter term, guarantees specific benefits. But Medicare doesn’t cover everything, and Congress and the president can change what is covered, and will be forced to do so when fiscal pressures hit. Meanwhile, it’s plausible that the Romney plan could provide less of a ""guarantee"" than Medicare currently does, but we found sharp disagreement between supporters and opponents of Romney’s Medicare plan on that point. This disagreement is hard to resolve given the shortage of information Romney has so far provided."

http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4341&intNumPerPage=10&checkDate=&checkKey=&srchType=1&numDays=3500&srchOpt=0&srchData=&keywordType=All&chkNewsType=1%2C+2%2C+3%2C+4%2C+5&intPage=&showAll=&pYear=&year=&desc=&cboOrder=date, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbYQs_LcsdM&feature=player_embedded, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/aug/29/paul-ryan/paul-ryan-said-president-obama-funneled-716-billio/, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/mar/22/mitt-romney/mitt-romney-says-barack-obama-ending-medicare-we-k/, https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2012/aug/22/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-ryan-romney-plan-will-end-medica/, http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/stories/2012/august/11/faq-paul-ryan-house-republican-medicare-plan.aspx, http://budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/pathtoprosperity2013.pdf, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/aug/16/barack-obama/does-paul-ryan-want-turn-medicare-voucher-program/, https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/jan/20/was-early-1960s-golden-age-health-care/

1mixture

National, Health Care, Medicare, Message Machine 2012, Barack Obama,

10077

Eating Foods High in Vitamin C Cuts Risk of Cataract Progression by a Third

March 30, 2016

This release from the American Academy of Ophthalmology describes a study on citrus foods as a possible nutritional cataract intervention. Because this study focused on 1,000 sets of female twins, the release offers some interesting observations about the role genetics may play in cataracts compared to diet and exercise. The body of the news release did not go further than the study itself in linking diets rich in Vitamin C to reduced risk of cataract formation and progression. But the headline blew past those constraints to assert a cause-and-effect relationship that the study itself did not. Cataracts are a clouding of the lenses in your eyes. They affect vision and are very common in older people. More than 22 million Americans have cataracts, according to the National Institutes of Health. The Institute further states that “By age 80, more than half of all people in the United States either will have a cataract or have had cataract surgery.” According to the World Health Organization, cataracts cause most of the world’s blindness, some 20 million cases, as well as cases of low vision. If a simple dietary intervention can delay or prevent such vision loss, that would be important information for individuals as well as for public health organizations.

Doug Campos-Outcalt, MD, MPA,Kathlyn Stone

No mention is made of the cost of adding more Vitamin C rich foods into the diet, but that would be tough to do, since the cost of foods rich in Vitamin C varies widely across the world. The news releases notes that, “During the baseline measurement, diets rich in vitamin C were associated with a 20 percent risk reduction for cataract. After 10 years, researchers found that women who reported consuming more vitamin C-rich foods had a 33 percent risk reduction of cataract progression.” The release would have been stronger if it had used absolute numbers (the actual total rate of cataracts in women with vitamin C-rich diets vs. those with diets low in vitamin C) in addition to the relative risk figures. The news release makes no mention of harms that may come with increasing the amount of Vitamin C one consumes in their diet. While mega doses of Vitamin C supplements are known to be harmful, this release and study stress that the focus here is on obtaining Vitamin C through food sources. Prospective cohort studies tend to be stronger than retrospective studies. But this one was limited by its dependence on a questionnaire that asked subjects to recall dietary intake, an often unreliable way of gathering information. In addition, the release doesn’t really describe how the slowing of cataracts was measured. The news release cites “diets rich in Vitamin C” as possibly protective, but fails to say what that means. What and in which quantities does a person have to eat in order to be eating a diet rich in Vitamin C? The news release notes further that “Genetic factors accounted for 35 percent of the difference in cataract progression. Environmental factors, such as diet, accounted for 65 percent.” But it does not say how those numbers were calculated. And we are told that there is a 33% reduced risk of cataract progression 10 years after the baseline studies were performed, but never learn why the number of pairs of twins who were tested dropped from 1,000 to 324. None of the study limitations were mentioned in the release. Here’s a summary of those limitations: 1. This was an observational study. There was no step for controlling for possible confounders (extraneous variables that could bias the study). 2. There was a large loss to follow up. 3. Volunteers were asked to recall their diets at only one point in time. 4. With the number of variables studied (25+) they were bound to find a difference by chance alone. The news release does not engage in disease mongering. The release doesn’t mention its funders or potential conflicts of interest. Just because a funder has no apparent conflicts of interest does not mean that that information need not be included. In this case, inclusion of the fact that the Wellcome Trust and the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association paid for the work would have strengthened the release’s credibility. Instead, a reader is left to wonder whether perhaps a group representing citrus growers is behind the study (it wasn’t). In the study (as opposed to the news release) the authors say that they “also found dietary manganese to be protective against cross-sectional nuclear cataract independent of vitamin C,” but found no association between dietary magnesium and nuclear cataract progression and the lack of a dose response.” That muddies the waters a bit, but would have been nice to include — if only to underscore the fact that much about science is not clear. And we never learn from the release that other interventions, like reducing cigarette smoking and ultraviolet light exposure, may prevent or delay the development of cataract, or that diabetes and overweight are risk factors, too. The study itself underscored these points. It’s common knowledge that Vitamin C-rich foods are widely available, although in different types and costs. The news release says, “A diet rich in vitamin C could cut risk of cataract progression by a third, suggests a study being published online today in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The research is also the first to show that diet and lifestyle may play a greater role than genetics in cataract development and severity.” Elsewhere in the release is another claim to novelty, “These results make the study the first to suggest that genetic factors may be less important in progression of cataract than previously thought.” In the study the authors gave themselves wiggle room: “This study is the first, to our knowledge, to show that dietary vitamin C intake protects against progression of nuclear lens opacity.” The release includes an unsupported claim in the headline, “Eating Foods High in Vitamin C Cuts Risk of Cataract Progression by a Third.” This is an observational study — a type of research that can’t determine cause and effect. And so the active verb used here “cuts risk” is not appropriate to describe the results. With that being said, this does not rise to the kind of flagrant language that we flag under this criterion.

https://www.healthnewsreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/iStock_000008158754_Medium1.jpg,http://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420%2816%2900114-7/fulltext,https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/summer08/articles/summer08pg14-15.html,http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index1.html

1mixture

Association/Society news release

5465

Illinois lawmakers plan 2nd Legionnaires’ disease hearing.

Illinois lawmakers will meet again next month in Springfield for a bipartisan hearing about the deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at a western Illinois veterans’ home.

State Sen. Tom Cullerton said Monday that the joint House-Senate hearing will be Feb. 7 at the state Capitol. The hearings have been called to examine the state’s response to the disease that contributed to the deaths of 13 residents at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy since 2015 and sickened dozens more. Cullerton says he has requested testimony and documents from veterans’ home executives, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office and public health officials, among others. Rauner stayed at the home earlier this month for several days and announced that the state would replace the plumbing at the site. Legionnaires’ is a severe form of pneumonia caused by water-borne bacteria.

2true

Quincy, Health, Legionnaires disease, Illinois, Bruce Rauner, Disease outbreaks, Public health, Springfield

2742

Furiex irritable bowel syndrome drug succeeds in large trials.

February 4, 2014

Shares of Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc more than doubled in value after the company said its experimental drug significantly alleviated diarrhea and abdominal pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome in two large late-stage trials.

Bill Berkrot

Furiex said it would apply by mid-year for U.S. approval of the drug, eluxadoline, to treat diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-d), a debilitating bowel disorder that affects about 28 million people in the United States and major European markets. Furiex said it expected to seek European approval in early 2015. The company’s shares rose as much as 165 percent to $121.97, valuing it at about $1.3 billion. “We believe that there are a lot of patients out there who need this drug. There is a huge unmet need,” Furiex Chief Medical Officer June Almenoff said in a telephone interview. Currently approved drugs for IBS address constipation associated with the disorder, but there are few options for diarrhea predominant IBS. Furiex founder and chairman Fred Eshelman said he believes the drug has the potential for blockbuster sales, which he defined as annual sales of between $750 million and $1 billion. Eluxadoline was tested at two doses against a placebo over the course of 12 weeks to meet requirements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and for 26 weeks for European health regulators, in Phase III studies involving 2,428 patients, Furiex said. For the combined goal of improvement in abdominal pain and stool consistency for at least half the days in the study, eluxadoline achieved a statistically significant improvement at the 100 milligram and 75 mg doses through 12 weeks in both studies. On the 26-week measure, the higher dose succeeded in both studies but the lower dose missed statistical significance in one of the two trials, according to initial results released by the company. The success appeared to be driven by the percentage of patients reporting improvements in diarrhea, which ranged from 30 percent to 37 percent versus 22 percent and 20.9 percent for the placebo groups. When the composite goal was broken into its two components, researchers found a numerical improvement in pain response rates that did not achieve statistical significance. The drug appeared to be safe and well-tolerated in both studies, Furiex said. The most commonly reported side effects were constipation and nausea. The company plans to present a far more detailed analysis of the late stage studies at an upcoming medical meeting. “We’re very excited about the path ahead and about how this can transform patients’ lives,” Almenoff said. Furiex shares were up 142 percent at $110.99 in early trading on the Nasdaq.

2true

Health News

16828

Nearly 60 percent of women who use birth control do so for more than just family planning.

June 30, 2014

"Wasserman Schultz said that ""nearly 60 percent of women who use birth control do so for more than just family planning."" This claim gets support from a Guttmacher Institute report that found 58 percent of pill users citing at least one non-contraceptive reason. However, Wasserman Schultz’s comment glosses over two important caveats. First, she said ""women who use birth control,"" even though the study looked at women who use the birth control pill specifically -- a type of birth control that wasn’t even one of the ones directly at issue in the Supreme Court case. Second, the Guttmacher study found that birth control is indeed the most common reason that women use the pill, with 86 percent saying it was one of the reasons they chose that option. The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information."

Amy Sherman

"On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that certain companies with religious objections can opt out of a mandate under the Affordable Care Act to provide free contraception to their employees. The 5-4 ruling involved a case brought by two companies owned by Christian families: Hobby Lobby, a chain of hobby stores, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, which makes wood cabinets. The companies opposed providing certain types of contraception that they believe is equivalent to inducing abortion, including morning-after pills and IUDs. (They didn’t oppose other methods of birth control.) They based their case on the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed by President Bill Clinton. The issue arose because birth control is included among the free preventative services mandated by President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 health care law. Houses of worship and religious institutions were already exempt from this aspect of the law. The court’s ruling applies to ""closed corporations"" which are in control by a few people, rather than public companies with many shareholders. Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion, stating that women who work for these corporations can still access these types of birth control either by the federal government paying for it or through a third-party administrator. Though the ruling was narrower in scope than it could have been, supporters of broad access to contraception expressed disappointment. One of these supporters was U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair from South Florida. In a statement attacking the decision, Wasserman Schultz said that contraception for women isn’t just about avoiding pregnancy. ""Nearly 60 percent of women who use birth control do so for more than just family planning,"" she said. We wondered whether that was correct. Guttmacher Institute study A DNC spokeswoman said Wasserman Schultz was referring to a November 2011 report from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that studies reproductive rights. The report focused specifically on the oral birth control pill, not all contraception. (We should note that the Guttmacher institute filed a brief on the side of the federal government in the Supreme Court case. We will also note that the oral birth control pill is different from the morning-after pill the plaintiffs objected to funding.) The Guttmacher report stated that while birth control pills are primarily intended to prevent pregnancy, they also provide other health-related benefits including easing menstrual-related problems. The report used national data from the 2006–2008 National Survey of Family Growth, which is administered by the government’s National Center for Health Statistics. Here are some of the key findings: • Out of about 7,350 women surveyed, 58 percent of pill users relied on the method at least in part for one non-contraceptive reason, such as managing menstrual pain, regulating periods and controlling acne. That’s the source for Wasserman Schultz’s claim about ""nearly 60 percent."" • Birth control is the most common reason women use the pill, reported by 86 percent of pill users at the time. That left 14 percent of pill users who said they only took the pill for non-contraceptive reasons. • Reliance on the pills for non-contraceptive reasons is highest for teenagers. A spokeswoman for the Guttmacher Institute told PolitiFact that they had not updated their 2011 report. Previously, we fact-checked a similar claim based on the same report. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said on MSNBC in March that ""it’s important to note that women take birth control, more than half of them, as a medication for other conditions, so it is an attack on women."" We rated that claim because it required additional clarification about the type of birth control and the survey results. Wasserman Schultz's statement was somewhat more carefully worded. Our ruling Wasserman Schultz said that ""nearly 60 percent of women who use birth control do so for more than just family planning."" This claim gets support from a Guttmacher Institute report that found 58 percent of pill users citing at least one non-contraceptive reason. However, Wasserman Schultz’s comment glosses over two important caveats. First, she said ""women who use birth control,"" even though the study looked at women who use the birth control pill specifically -- a type of birth control that wasn’t even one of the ones directly at issue in the Supreme Court case. Second, the Guttmacher study found that birth control is indeed the most common reason that women use the pill, with 86 percent saying it was one of the reasons they chose that option. The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information."

2true

Health Care, Supreme Court, Women, Florida, Debbie Wasserman Schultz,

32638

Scientists have created a human-gorilla hybrid called Hurilla.

June 4, 2016

was lightened and shared as a supposed photograph of a human-ape hybrid.

Dan Evon

An image purportedly showing Hurilla, a hybrid human-gorilla infant, began recirculating online after it was shared by multiple viral content sites on 30 May 2016: A shocking report coming out of the Indian University of Science in Bengaluru, Karnataka announces they have successfully cloned a half human, half gorilla hybrid. Gorilla and human genetic experimentation has been going on secretly since the 1980s, in multiple countries. It was only inevitable that the success of these experiments would finally take place. They are calling him ‘Hurilla.’ At just seven weeks of age, ‘Hurilla’ weighs approximately 18.2 pounds and is 24 inches long; They expect him to grow to approximately 250 – 300 pounds with a height not to exceed 6 feet. The image displayed above has been the central focus of several fake news stories about hybrids of human beings and other species, although these stories frequently feature conflicting reports. For instance, the entertainment web site Stuppid used the image in an article claiming that the picture showed a “humanzee,” a cross between a human and a chimpanzee, and that the creature began life in Nigeria, not India. This photograph, however, shows neither a “humanzee” nor a “hurrilla,” nor any other form of hybrid animal. The original was taken in 2005 and captured a glimpse of a baby gorilla that had just been born at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida: A baby gorilla has been born at a wildlife park in Florida. The primate’s arrival caused a lot of drama at Busch Gardens zoological hospital. After an examination of his mum Kishina, 33, vets were worried about the baby’s welfare and was delivered by “a very rare” emergency caesarean. As many readers are unfamiliar with what a newborn gorilla looks like, the image of this one

http://hsc.usf.edu/publicaffairs/newsreleases/News+Releases-+November+21,+2005b.htm, https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2016/06/humanzee.jpg

0false

Junk News, human gorilla, hybrid